Understanding the Raman enhancement of carbon nanohorns labelled with organic dyes

Nanoscale. 2023 Jul 27;15(29):12280-12286. doi: 10.1039/d3nr01357j.

Abstract

Carbon nanohorns have been non-covalently functionalized with two different benzothiadiazoloquinoxalines prepared via Stille cross-coupling reactions under solvent-free conditions and microwave irradiation. The close interactions between these organic molecules and the nanostructures resulted in a prominent Raman enhancement, which makes them attractive candidates for multiple applications. A complete experimental physico-chemical characterization has been combined with in silico studies to understand these phenomena. The processability of the hybrids was exploited to prepare homogeneous films on substrates with different natures.