Fatima Fergani

By Hassane Chadli, Fatima Fergani and Abdelali Rahmani

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can encapsulate small and large molecules, including C60 and C70 fullerenes (so-called carbon peapods). The challenge for nanotechnology is to achieve perfect control of nanoscale-related properties, which requires correlating the parameters of synthesis process with the resulting nanostructure. For that purpose, note every conventional characterization technique is suitable, but Raman spectroscopy has already proven to be. First, the different possible configurations of C60 and C70 molecules inside CNTs are reviewed. Therefore, the following changes of properties of the empty nanotubes, such as phonon modes, induced by the C60 and C70 filling inside nanotube are presented. We also briefly review the concept of Raman spectroscopy technique that provides information on phonon modes in carbon nanopeapods. The dependencies of the Raman spectrum as a function of nanotube diameter and chirality, fullerene molecules configuration and the filling level are identified and discussed. The experimental Raman spectra of fullerenes and fullerenes peapods are discussed in the light of theoretical calculation results. Finally, the variation of the average intensity ratio between C60 and C70 Raman-active modes and the nanotube ones, as a function of the concentration molecules, are analyzed, and a general good agreement is found between calculations and measurements.

Part of the book: Fullerenes and Relative Materials