Hybrid materials of 1D and 2D carbon allotropes and synthetic π-systems

Self-assembled synthetic hybrid materials are an important class of artificial materials with potential applications in various fields ranging from optoelectronics to medicine. The noncovalent interactions involved in the self-assembly process offer a facile way to create hybrid materials with unique and interesting properties. In this context, self-assembled hybrid materials based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and graphene derivatives such as graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) are of particular significance. These composites are solution processable, generally exhibit enhanced electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties, and find applications in the fields of light harvesting, energy storage, optoelectronics, sensors, etc. Herein, we present a brief summary of recent developments in the area of self-assembled functional hybrid materials comprising one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) carbon allotropes and synthetic π-systems such as aromatic molecules, gelators, and polymers. Functionalizing carbon allotropes with aromatic molecules is a promising way to realize hybrid materials with various applications. Carbon nanomaterials, such as two-dimensional graphene and one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, have already started to find uses in electronic and optoelectronic applications. Hybrid materials that combine these carbon nanostructures with small aromatic molecules or polymers can extend the range of applications further still. Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh from the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology and co-workers have reviewed the various approaches developed to combine these carbon allotropes with organic materials and thus create even more functional materials. They give an overview of the various solution-processed self-assembly methods used to create functional hybrid allotropes of carbon and their potential uses in novel light-harvesting systems, solar cells and organic field-effect transistors. Exploration of noncovalent interactions of such as H-bonding, p-stacking and van der Waals forces to the design of hybrid materials of 1D or 2D carbon allotropes and synthetic p-systems such as aromatic small molecules, gelators and polymers for various applications ranging from materials to biology are discussed.