Applications of Functionalized Carbon Nanomaterials: Advances and Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

Excellent carrier mobility, high conductivity and tunable electronic structures allow metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) to be used as source/drain and gate electrodes, and semiconducting nanotubes as semiconducting channels, in stretchable and transparent transistors, leading to their outstanding electrical properties and growth kinetics studied inside metallocene-filled SWCNTs. The ability of carbon nanomaterials to effectively collect the photogenerated charges from the active layer in solar cells allows them to be utilized as interfacial materials between the active layer and electrode, or directly as transparent conductive electrodes in solar cells, which can lead to high power conversion efficiency. The large Seebeck coefficient, high carrier conductivity and the high thermal stability of carbon nanomaterials makes them a promising thermoelectric material, which can result in large power factors in thermoelectric devices. The tunability of the emission wavelength as a function of diameter and chirality of SWCNTs allows them to be employed in light-emitting devices. The utilization of graphene and nanotubes in light-emitting p–n diodes, where the p- and n-type regions in the nanotubes are formed by doping to create a p–n junction, can also lead to significantly reduced power dissipation, zero threshold current, negligible self-heating and high carrier-to-photon conversion efficiencies. Investigation of the electronic properties of chemically functionalized carbon nanomaterials can be performed by Raman spectroscopy, near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy, photoemission spectroscopy, and optical absorption spectroscopy. The high surface area and nanoscale dimensions of carbon nanomaterials additionally provide the opportunity to load and deliver diagnostic and therapeutic agents to the tissues and organs. As a result, carbon nanomaterials have the ability to cross the cellular membrane, possess a capacity for Raman scattering, strong near-infrared optical absorption, photoluminescence and photoacoustic response. This makes them a useful tool for bioimaging, drug delivery and anticancer therapy.

This Special Issue will focus on the applications of chemically functionalized carbon nanomaterials, advances and perspectives. Chemically functionalized carbon nanomaterials include carbon nanotubes, graphene, graphene nanoribbons, 2D heterostructures, fullerenes, and nanodiamonds. The Issue is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent and forthcoming progress in the field. It will help researchers to quickly find and identify related and relevant publications for their own work on carbon nanomaterials.

We invite interested authors to submit their original experimental and theoretical papers, as well as review articles within the subject, for inclusion in this Special Issue, which will boost the visibility of their work.

Dr. Marianna Kharlamova
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• application
• carbon nanostructure
• growth kinetics
• electronic properties
• Raman spectroscopy
• near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy
• photoemission spectroscopy
• optical absorption spectroscopy
• chemical properties, physical properties