US Patent 7250569 Method for dissolving nanostructural materials

High solubility of pristine single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes using electron donors as solubilizers has been observed. The resulting carbon nanotube solution can be readily diluted with other organic solvents, such as acetone, toluene and methanol. SEM after solvent evaporation clearly shows that nanotubes are still present after being subjected to this procedure. Electronic absorption of these solutions is observed in both the UV and visible region. Strong light emission (=0.30) was observed at 561 nm for dilute solutions of aniline-dissolved carbon nanotubes diluted with acetone.