Diameter-dependent single- and double-file stacking of squaraine dye molecules inside chirality-sorted single-wall carbon nanotubes

The filling of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with dye molecules has become a novel path to add new functionalities through the mutual interaction of confined dyes and host SWCNTs. In particular cases, the encapsulated dye molecules form strongly interacting molecular arrays and these result in severely altered optical properties of the dye molecules. Here, we present the encapsulation of a squaraine dye inside semiconducting chirality-sorted SWCNTs with diameters ranging from ∼1.15 nm, in which the dye molecules can only be encapsulated in a single-file molecular arrangement, up to ∼1.5 nm, in which two or three molecular files can fit side-by-side. Through the chirality-selective observation of energy transfer from the dye molecules to the surrounding SWCNTs, we find that the absorption wavelength of the dye follows a peculiar SWCNT diameter dependence, originating from the specific stacking of the dye inside the host SWCNTs. Corroborated by a theoretical model, we find that for each SWCNT diameter, the dye molecules adopt a close packing geometry, resulting in tunable optical properties of the hybrid when selecting a specific SWCNT chirality.