Aqueous Dispersion and Characterization of Glycopolymers-Wrapped Carbon Nanotubes

Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have gained tremendous attention for both material and biomedical research and applications, such as bioimaging, biosensor, and drug delivery applications. Dispersion of SWCNTs with biopolymers in aqueous environments facilitates their potential biological and biomedical applications. In this work, we investigated a small library of synthetic glycopolymers with monosaccharide and disaccharide groups for dispersion of SWCNTs via non-covalent complexation in aqueous condition. Glycopolymers exhibited the effective stabilization of SWCNTs in water through the formation of wrapping conformation on the nanotube surface, which also depends on the carbohydrate density and polymer chain length. This work demonstrates the synergistic effects of the identity of carbohydrate pendant groups and polymer chain length of glycopolymers on stabilizing SWCNTs in water, which has not been achieved previously.