Shining Light Through Bleach Creates Fluorescent Quantum Defects

Using household bleach and light, MIT researchers have created fluorescent quantum defects in carbon nanotubes. The defects can be synthesized quickly and at large scale, the researchers said. The researchers treated carbon nanotubes at room temperature with NaClO (bleach) and irradiated the nanotubes with ultraviolet light for less than a minute to achieve optimized oxygen-doping. The doping efficiency was controlled by varying surfactant concentration and type, NaClO concentration, and irradiation dose. Submerging a carbon nanotube in bleach produces an oxygen atom (red) that reacts with the carbon atoms (black) of the nanotube, forming a fluorescent quantum defect when irradiated with ultraviolet light. Courtesy of the...