Newsportal - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Researchers from Bochum and Texas have discovered why carbon nanotubes fluoresce when they bind to certain molecules. Nanotubes are considered promising biosensors that could be useful for blood sugar monitoring or Covid-19 tests, for example. When they bind to an analyte, they fluoresce – the higher the concentration of the analyte, the brighter the fluorescence. Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and a team from the University of Texas at El Paso, USA, have used terahertz spectroscopy to unveil the mechanism behind the light emission. They showed that the aqueous solution plays a decisive role for the fluorescence. The results have been published online in the journal “Nature Communications” on August 8, 2024.

At Ruhr University, the groups of Professor Martina Havenith and Professor Sebastian Kruss collaborated for the study, which took place as part of the Cluster of Excellence “Ruhr Explores Solvation”, RESOLV for short. The PhD students Sanjana Nalige and Phillip Galonska made significant contributions.