Over the past two decades, pristine carbon nanotubes have inspired numerous innovative concepts. However, many of these promising ideas have not progressed beyond the prototype stage due to significant challenges with reproducibility.
In this scientific landscape, Paola Ayala's research centers on elucidating the physical properties that emerge from heteroatom functionalization and the filling of single-walled carbon nanotubes and related heteronanotubes. This approach opens a broad spectrum of possibilities for precisely tuning material properties.
Ayala is particularly focused on harnessing controlled functionalization for practical applications, including gas sensing technologies that leverage electrical and electronic properties, as well as biological markers and biosensing platforms that utilize the nanotubes' distinctive optical properties and unique spectroscopic signatures.
