Recent developments in the selective dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes using conjugated polymers

A significant barrier that impedes the commercialization of single-walled carbon nanotube-related applications is that all known synthetic methods produce a complicated mixture of semiconducting and metallic species. For device applications, pure semiconducting or pure metallic samples are desirable. Thus far, the purification methods that have been identified are capable of separating individual carbon nanotube species on a microgram scale, but purification on a large scale has remained elusive. The use of conjugated polymers to selectively disperse specific nanotube species is a promising approach to resolve the scalability issue, but a comprehensive understanding of the selectivity mechanism has not yet been achieved. Here, several of the trends reported in the literature are outlined to further the rational design of conjugated polymers for nanotube sorting. Numerous variables influence dispersion selectivity, including polymer structure and molecular weight, nanotube type used, sonication temperature, amount of polymer relative to nanotube, and solvent. We have organized these seemingly disparate parameters into two simple categories: conjugated polymer structure, and dispersion preparation conditions. Most importantly, we consider the mechanistic arguments that have been proposed, and provide additional insights based on the observations in the literature.