Control of Chiral π-Space in Highly Organized π-Conjugated Polymer Nanotube Composites and Their Functions

This chapter describes the following topics. (1) We have for the first time succeeded in the preparation of plasmonically active hybrid nanotubes (NTs) consisting of fullerene C60, polythiophene and Ag or Au nanoparticles (NPs). In these hybrid NTs, the Ag NPs or Au NPs are confined as components of the wall thickness of the NTs. The multifunctional hybrid NTs consisting of fullerene C60, polythiophene (PT) and Ag NPs or Au NPs will become a new type of SERS substrate using NTs. (2) We showed that the sequential template-based electropolymerization technique provides a novel approach to grow additional materials on the top of initially formed hybrid NT-deposited nanopores of an alumina membrane to form fascinating NT heterojunctions. The hybrid nanotube morphology can be controlled by the sequential electropolymerization of the different metal NPs in a nanoporous template. (3) The multifunctional chiral binaphthylcarboxylate-modified Fe3O4 NPs with a polymerizable group produce the polymer nanocomposite films on an electrode and new chiral hybrid nanotubes of Fe3O4 NPs and polythiophene by a template-based electropolymerization. (4) We demonstrated the encapsulation and release of an anionic fluorescent dye in the redox-active cationic polymer NTs containing viologen via an electrostatic interaction. We expect this research to yield a broad range of potential applications in catalysis, nanoelectrochemistry, molecular separation, drug delivery, controlled release devices and sensor developments.