Issue 15, 2022

Elucidating the electronic properties of single-wall carbon nanohorns

Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanohorns are an allotrope of carbon with promising properties for a variety of applications. Despite their promise, the majority carrier type (i.e. electrons or holes) that defines the electronic properties of this novel semiconductor is poorly understood and so far only indirect measurements have been employed to arrive at contradictory results. Here, we directly determine the majority carrier type in single-wall carbon nanohorns for the first time by means of thermopower measurements. Using this direct method, we show that SWCNH films exhibit a positive Seebeck coefficient indicating that SWCNHs behave as p-type semiconductors. This result is further corroborated by intentionally tuning the hole or electron concentrations of SWCNH layers via redox doping with molecular electron acceptors and donors, respectively. These results provide a framework for both measuring and chemically tuning the majority carrier type in this emerging nanocarbon semiconductor.

Graphical abstract: Elucidating the electronic properties of single-wall carbon nanohorns

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
12 1 2022
Accepted
22 3 2022
First published
23 3 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022,10, 5783-5786

Elucidating the electronic properties of single-wall carbon nanohorns

A. Zieleniewska, F. Lodermeyer, M. Prato, G. Rumbles, D. M. Guldi and J. L. Blackburn, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 5783 DOI: 10.1039/D2TC00179A

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