Chemical reactions confined within carbon nanotubes

Miners, Scott A.; Rance, Graham A.; Khlobystov, Andrei N.

Abstract

In this critical review, we survey the wide range of chemical reactions that have been confined within carbon nanotubes, particularly emphasising how the pairwise interactions between the catalysts, reactants, transition states and products of a particular molecular transformation with the host nanotube can be used to control the yields and distributions of products of chemical reactions. We demonstrate that nanoscale confinement within carbon nanotubes enables the control of catalyst activity, morphology and stability, influences the local concentration of reactants and products thus affecting equilibria, rates and selectivity, pre-arranges the reactants for desired reactions and alters the relative stability of isomeric products. We critically evaluate the relative advantages and disadvantages of the confinement of chemical reactions inside carbon nanotubes from a chemical perspective and describe how further developments in the controlled synthesis of carbon nanotubes and the incorporation of multifunctionality are essential for the development of this ever-expanding field, ultimately leading to the effective control of the pathways of chemical reactions through the rational design of multi-functional carbon nanoreactors.

Citation

Miners, S. A., Rance, G. A., & Khlobystov, A. N. (2016). Chemical reactions confined within carbon nanotubes. Chemical Society Reviews, 45(17), 4727-4746. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cs00090h

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jun 15, 2016
• Publication Date: Sep 17, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Journal: Chemical Society Reviews
• Print ISSN: 0306-0012
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-4744
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 17
• Pages: 4727-4746
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cs00090h
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/24586420
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2016/cs/c6cs00090h