Polaritonic Enhancement of Near-Field Scattering of Small Molecules Encapsulated in Boron Nitride Nanotubes: Chemical Reactions in Confined Spaces

Datz, D�niel; N�meth, Gergely; Walker, Kate E.; Rance, Graham A.; Pekker, �ron; Khlobystov, Andrei N.; Kamar�s, Katalin

Abstract

Nanotubes have been extensively utilized as nanocontainers for molecules and as nanoreactors for chemical reactions in confinement, with the potential for applications in hydrogen storage and catalysis. We show that phonon polaritons of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) enhance the near-field vibrational spectra of molecules in close proximity to the surface. By encapsulating C60 fullerene in BNNTs, we reach a sensitivity level of a few hundred molecules. Furthermore, we show by the photopolymerization of C60 that products of chemical reactions inside the tubes can be identified, so long as their vibrational signatures lie in the reststrahlen band of the BNNT.

Citation

Datz, D., Németh, G., Walker, K. E., Rance, G. A., Pekker, Á., Khlobystov, A. N., & Kamarás, K. (2021). Polaritonic Enhancement of Near-Field Scattering of Small Molecules Encapsulated in Boron Nitride Nanotubes: Chemical Reactions in Confined Spaces. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 4(5), 4335–4339. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.1c00064

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 20, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 22, 2021
• Publication Date: May 28, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 7, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 23, 2022
• Journal: ACS Applied Nano Materials
• Print ISSN: 2574-0970
• Electronic ISSN: 2574-0970
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 4335–4339
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.1c00064
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5521759
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsanm.1c00064
• Additional Information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ; ACS Applied Nano Materials,copyright© American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsanm.1c00064