Carbon nanohoops are short slices of carbon nanotubes with size-dependent properties. In the present invention, a norbonene moiety fused to the carbon nanohoops which allows the nanohoops to be incorporated into polymers with a ring-opening metathesis polymerization. This is a completely new class of polymers with tunable optoelectronic properties and host-guest capabilities, dependent on the properties of the selected nanohoop. These are the first polymeric materials made from carbon nanohoops. This allows one to retain the unique optoelectronic and host-guest properties of carbon nanohoops while changing the physical properties of the materials (e.g. ability to make a film). One can envision applications such as gas adsorption/separation, fluorescent hydrogels for biomedical application, hydrophobic coatings, or ultra bright polymeric dyes for bioimaging. These exceptionally bright nanohoop-based fluorescent materials are stable at a remarkably wide range of pH levels and are less likely to lose their intensity due to self-quenching.
Keywords: Engineering Polymers Nanoscience SCIENCES CHEMISTRY Fluorescence
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