Organic molecules encapsulated in single-walled carbon nanotubes

Hybrid materials based on carbon nanotubes continue to attract considerable interest due to the broad variety of both the cages outside and the encapsulated species inside. This review focuses on organic molecules as guests in single-walled carbon nanotube hosts. The majority of results presented here has been attained in recent years by various methods of optical spectroscopy, complemented by transmission electron microscopy. These spectroscopic methods yield information on electronic structure, as well as dynamic processes as structural transformations and chemical reactions.