Dynamical screening of the exciton resonance in conjugated polymers/carbon nanotubes composites

We study coherent phonons in polymer-carbon nanotubes composites by sub-10-fs pump-probe spectroscopy. We find that coherent phonons in the polymer network modulate the exciton resonance of the wrapped nanotube. We propose a model of dynamic environmental coupling in which the polymer vibration affects the carbon nanotubes exciton energy by virtue of the modulation of its dielectric screening. Carbon nanotubes act as antenna for the local environment and highlight small changes in the dielectric constant. This shows the extreme sensitivity of carbon nanotubes to their surrounding, a property essential for sensing applications and crucial for understanding composite materials.