Construction and fluorescence of organic nanotube arrays by template-based physical vapor deposition method

Well-aligned organic nanotubes including acenaphthylene, carbazole, anthracene, phenanthrene and naphthalene have been fabricated within the nanochannels of the porous anodic alumina (PAA) membranes by a simple physical vapor deposition (PVD) method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveal that these organic nanotubes are highly ordered with a uniform diameter in range of 100–200 nm and a length of up to tens of microns. The fluorescence spectra of these nanotubes exhibit obvious blue shift compared to those of the bulk crystals, which can be attributed to the surface effect of the nanostructures.