Carbon nanotubes with heteroatoms

Although the field is very young, a number of reviews concerning heterofullerenes and heteroatom-containing versions of carbon nanotubes have appeared recently. In some of these, with varying success, efforts have been made to cover the whole area [9-12], in others only part of the field is concerned [13-15], while in some articles the authors summarize their own work on heterofullerenes almost exclusively [16-21]. 

The synthesis and characterization of low-valent organoselenium and tel-lurophene derivatives of 1,4,5,8,9,12-hexabromododecahydrotriphenylene were attempted (14JCS1311). Impetus for this study was predicated on the current interest in using triphenylene as a substrate for use as precursor for the synthesis of graphenes, buckminsterfullerenes, carbon nanotubes, as well as polycyclic heteroaromatics. It is also known that the insertion of heteroatoms such as sulfur or selenophene into polycyclic heteroaromatics enhances their electronic properties. Thus, the hexabromo derivatives were first prepared by the bromination of triphenylene then treated with in situ generated... 

Recent advances on material s chemistiy have contributed to develop highly featured carbon nanostructures with unforeseen properties that offer unexpected opportunities in many fields. " The majority of these applications derives from the flexible coordination chemistiy of carbon atoms and their unique ability to bind other heteroatoms (either on the surface or inserted within the structural framework) or other carbon atoms, resulting in a wide spectrum of materials and allotropic forms, as shown in Fig. 1. The main carbon allotropes of interest in electrochemical applications and frequently used carbon electrodes are diamond, graphite, graphene and carbon nanotubes. A detailed review on carbon materials structure can be found in ref. 15,17 and 18, and below we summarize some important facts about their characteristics ... 

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