Description:

Researchers at the ERATO Aida Nanospace project in Tokyo, Japan have discovered a hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) derivative that undergoes self-assembly yielding nanotubular entities of highly monodisperse diameter (20nm) and excessive (<1000) aspect ratio. The nanotubes are formed by coiling of a bilayer ribbon composed of the HBC  molecules, and are obtained in virtually quantitative yield.  Amphiphilic and pi-pi stacking effects drive the self-assembly of the nanotubes, which can be isolated by filtration and redispersed in other solvents. The high efficiency of the nanotube formation is indicative of a strong self-recognition, which enables these nanotubes to attain lengths of 10 microns or more. Introduction of a charge carrier by  partial oxidation of the self-assembly gives semiconducting, self-assembled nanotubes.

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