By using the spectral moments method, we calculate the infrared spectra of chiral and achiral single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) of different diameters and lengths. We show that the number of the infrared modes, their frequencies, and intensities depend on the length and chirality of the nanotubes. Furthermore, the dependence of the infrared spectrum as a function of the size of the SWCNT bundle is analyzed. These predictions are useful to interpret the experimental infrared spectra of SWCNTs.

We have investigated iodine intercalated carbon nanostructures by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and Raman spectroscopies. We discuss here the charge transfer and the iodine–carbon interaction as a function of the carbon nanostructures (graphite, multi-walled, double-walled and single walled nanotubes). The results show that iodine is weakly adsorbed on the surface of all multi-walled nanotubes. By contrast, a charge transfer between iodine and single walled nanotubes is evidenced.

We report an x-ray absorption fine structure study at the iodine-K edge of the local structure in iodine-doped carbon nanotubes. The iodine-carbon host interaction is shown to be weaker in multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) than in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Iodine species are only localized at the surface of the external tube for MWNTs, whereas iodine species enter inside SWNTs. For doped SWNTs, both the experimental and the theoretical EXAFS spectra allow us to establish the structure of the iodine chain as disordered pentaiodide at the saturation level.

Infrared intramolecular vibrations and lattice modes for both the crystalline α-quaterthiophene (4T) polymorph phases are investigated by using the modern theory of polarization combined with density functional theory. For the first time, Born effective charge tensors and far- and mid-infrared responses for both the polymorph phases of 4T have been calculated. We have also proposed an assignment of the main spectral infrared signatures of the 4T polymorph phases. These assignments could be of particular interest in the far-infrared domain for the understanding of the electronic transport of these materials.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been used to probe the organization of the organic fragments in lamellar bridged silsesquioxanes with organic substructures based on alkylene chains of various lengths and urea groups [O1.5Si(CH2)3NHCONH(CH2)nNHCONH(CH2)3SiO1.5] (n = 6, 8-12). The structure and intermolecular interactions (hydrophobic and H-bonding) of these well-defined self-structured hybrid silicas are discussed in relation to their powder X-ray diffraction patterns. The degree of structural order is determined by the length and parity of the alkylene spacer. A concomitant enhancement in the degree of condensation of the inorganic component and a decrease in the strength of the hydrophobic interactions between the organic components are demonstrated. The strength and directionality of the H-bonding are directly correlated to the crystalllinity of the organic-inorganic hybrid materials.

The aim of the present paper is to identify the main infrared vibrational features of carbon nanotubes. In this goal, infrared experiments have been performed on different well-characterized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) as well as graphite and carbon aerogel. The comparison between the experimental spectra measured on these different samples allows us to identify the infrared-active modes of carbon nanotubes. In SWCNTs, the tangential modes are located around 1590 cm−1 and the radial mode around 860 cm−1. This latter mode vanishes in the infrared spectrum of DWCNTs. Finally, in the infrared spectra of all the carbon nanotubes investigated, a band around 1200 cm−1 is evidenced and assigned to the D-band (disorder-induced band).