Encapsulation of Conjugated Oligomers in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Towards Nanohybrids for Photonic Devices

Visible-light emitting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)/organic hybrids have been successfully synthesized and promise to be a photon source to be used in future optoelectronic devices. The nanohybrids are "peapods" having sexithiophene molecules inside the hollow space of SWNTs. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and optical probes show evidence of the encapsulation while density functional theory calculations confirm the experimental findings and provide deeper insight into stability and electronic properties of these systems.