Hydrophobic anchoring of monolayer-protected gold nanoclusters to carbon nanotubes

Creating hybrid nanostructures consisting of disparate nanoscale blocks is of interest for exploring new types of quantum device architectures. Here, we demonstrate the novel anchoring of monolayer-protected gold nanoclusters; of 1-3 nm diameter to sidewalls of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via hydrophobic interactions between octanethiols capping the nanoclusters; and acetone-activated CNT surfaces. Such molecularly interlinked hybrid nanoblocks are attractive for building biocompatible nanodevices.