Cross-linking gelation of isomaltodextrin for the chromatographic separation of semiconducting carbon nanotubes

The gel column chromatographic separation technique is one of the most rapid and reliable methods to prepare high-purity semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). However, the use of the expensive dextran-based gels limits the utility and scalability of this technique. Herein, we report the cross-linking gelation of a cost-efficient polysaccharide isomaltodextrin (IMD) for the high-purity separation of s-SWCNTs by column chromatography. The cross-linking reaction with epichlorohydrin under precisely controlled basic conditions gave the sub-micrometer porous IMD gels, which was important for achieving gel chromatographic SWCNT separation. Furthermore, the thin-film transistors prepared from the separated s-SWCNTs exhibited excellent on/off ratios.