Control of the photoluminescence properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes by alkylation and subsequent thermal treatment

Dibutylated single-walled carbon nanotubes (Bu-SWNTs-Bu) with varying degrees of functionalization were prepared by two-step reductive alkylation and subsequent thermal treatment. A new photoluminescence peak at around 1240 nm was observed and increased drastically after the thermal treatment. The results indicate that thermally treated Bu-SWNTs-Bu are promising NIR photoluminescent materials.