Jasti Carbon Nanohoop Research Featured in C&E News
In a July 19 article, C&E News reported on the work of Professor Ramesh Jasti and his Group on carbon nano hoops. Cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs) or nanohoops are made from para-linked benzene rings. Stacking of CPPs could be the basis for preparing useful quantities of pure carbon nanotubes. However, CPPs are so difficult to make that they are currently sold commercially for about $100 per milligram. In a remarkable achievement, the Jasti Group have developed a new catalytic method that boosts the yields of eight- and 10-unit nanohoops by two orders of magnitude. As reported in C&E News, this work has implications for nanoelectronics because armchair nanotubes, the type of carbon nanotubes that would be made by nanohoop stacking, are highly prized as conductive nanowires.
Ramesh Jasti joined the BU faculty in 2009. The reported work is part of his laboratories goal of utilizing organic synthesis to probe the physics and theory of carbon nanostructures, with the ultimate goal of developing new applications in nanotechnology. Prior to coming to BU, he was one of the first postdoctoral fellows at the Molecular Foundry—a US Department of Energy nanoscience facility at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. As a highly interdisciplinary scientist, Professor Jasti also has appointments in the Materials Science and Engineering Division, as well as the Center for Nanoscience and Nanobiotechnology.
