Tunable near-infrared emitters and methods
The present invention relates to near-infrared quantum emitters, and in particular carbon nanostructures with chemically incorporated fluorescent defects, and methods of synthesizing near-infrared emitting nanostructures.
1. A method of synthesizing a near infrared emitter comprising the steps of:
reacting a carbon nanostructure with a halogen-containing hydrocarbon precursor and thereby creating sp 3 defects in said carbon nanostructure,
wherein covalent functionalization produces fluorescent defects that emit near-infrared radiation having wavelengths between about 800 nm and about 2500 nm.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said carbon nanostructure is a carbon nanotube (CNT).
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said CNT has a diameter of between about 0.5 nm and about 1.6 nm.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said sp 3 defects are created in a pristine carbon nanostructure during said reacting step.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said halogen-containing hydrocarbon precursor is a chlorine, a bromide, an iodide or a di-halide alkyl precursor.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said halogen-containing hydrocarbon precursor is a polymer containing the reactive halogen.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said halogen-containing hydrocarbon precursor is a polyoligonucleotide containing the reactive halogen.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said halogen-containing hydrocarbon precursor is an alkyl halide.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein said reacting step further comprises combining said carbon nanostructure with sodium dithionite (Na2S2O4), said sodium dithionite activating said alkyl precursor.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said halogen-containing hydrocarbon precursor is an iodide or di-halide aryl precursor.
11. The method of claim 10 , comprising exposing said carbon nanostructure and said aryl precursor to electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength(s) of between about 300 nm and about 1200 nm and resonant with said carbon nanostructures, said electromagnetic radiation activating said aryl precursor.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said created sp 3 defects are selected from the group consisting of monovalent alkyl defects, divalent alkyl defects, monovalent aryl defects, and divalent aryl defects.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said covalently functionalized carbon nanostructure is functionalized with an alkyl group or an aryl group.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said covalently functionalized carbon nanostructure is functionalized with —(CH 2 ) n (CF 2 ) m CF 3 , wherein n is an integer between 0 and 10, and wherein m is an integer between 0 and 10.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said covalently functionalized carbon nanostructure is functionalized with —(CH 2 ) n CH 3 , wherein n is an integer between 0 and 17.
16. A synthetic near-infrared emitter, comprising:
a carbon nanostructure comprising sp 3 defects in a carbon lattice thereof and created via reaction with a halogen-containing hydrocarbon precursor; and
a functional group covalently bonded to said sp 3 defects to produce fluorescent defects that emit near-infrared radiation having wavelengths between about 800 nm and about 2500 nm.
17. The near-infrared emitter of claim 16 , wherein said carbon nanostructure is a carbon nanotube (CNT).
18. The near-infrared emitter of claim 16 , wherein said CNT has a diameter of between about 0.5 nm and about 1.6 nm.
19. The near-infrared emitter of claim 16 , wherein said functional group is selected from the group consisting of a monovalent alkyl group, a divalent alkyl group, a monovalent aryl group, and a divalent aryl group.
20. The near-infrared emitter of claim 16 , wherein said functional group is —(CH 2 ) n (CF 2 ) m X, wherein n is an integer between 0 and 17, and wherein m is an integer between 0 and 17, and wherein X is CH3, CF3, NH2, N+(CH2CH3)2, or COOH.
21. The near-infrared emitter of claim 16 , wherein said functional group is —(CH 2 ) n CH 3 , wherein n is an integer between 0 and 10.