A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Absolute quantification of enantiomeric purity of sorted carbon nanotubes by correlating hyperspectral fluorescence microscopy with ensemble chiroptical spectroscopy;




AuthorsLópez, Carrillo Miguel Ángel; Desmet, Filip; Erkens, Maksiem; Fagan, Jeffrey A.; Zheng, Ming; Li, Han; Flavel, Benjamin S.; Wenseleers, Wim; Herrebout, Wouter; Cambré, Sofie; Levshov, Dmitry I.

PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC

Publication year2026

Journal: Nature Communications

Article number6860

Volume17

eISSN2041-1723

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73397-2

Publication's open availability at the time of reportingOpen Access

Publication channel's open availability Open Access publication channel

Web address https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73397-2

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/526840182

Self-archived copy's licenceCC BY NC ND

Self-archived copy's versionPublisher`s PDF


Abstract

Accurate determination of enantiomeric purity is essential for advancing chiral materials in nanotechnology, optoelectronics, and quantum information science. Chiroptical spectroscopic techniques provide rapid, non-destructive measurements of enantiomeric excess (ee), but their use for complex systems like single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is limited by the lack of enantiopure references for calibration. Here we demonstrate an absolute approach combining hyperspectral imaging (HSI) with single-nanotube counting statistics and ensemble chiroptical spectroscopy such as electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and Raman optical activity (ROA) to quantify ee without requiring such standards. Analysis of thousands of individual nanotubes reveals sensitivity of HSI and chiroptical responses to synthesis, purification, and SWCNT concentration, highlighting pronounced source-dependent inhomogeneity. Nevertheless, universal calibration curves for ECD and ROA intensities are established from the purest, most uniform enantiomer-sorted samples. This methodology is extendable to other SWCNT chiralities and chiroptical techniques, enabling quantitative enantiomer sorting and systematic investigations of chirality-dependent properties and applications.


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Last updated on 30/07/2026 08:12:35 AM