An effective approach for purifying, cutting, and functionalising of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

F.-A. He, Jintu Fan

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High purity, homogenous dispersion, and good compatibility of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polymer composites are key factors to achieve excellent mechanical and electrical properties of polymer/CNTs composites. Although extensive efforts have been made in this area, it is still crucial to explore an effective method to purify, cut, and functionalise CNTs. Here the authors report an approach to purify, cut, and functionalise multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) simultaneously using KMnO4 as an oxidant in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst (PTC). The purification, cutting, and functionalisation of CNTs were confirmed by the results of energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), hydrodynamic radius characterisation, Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. It was found that the modified CNTs are easily dispersible in a range of commonly used organic solvents, which provides an effective way to prepare polymer/CNT composites by solution blending. © 2013 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1423-1429
Number of pages7
JournalMaterials Science and Technology (United Kingdom)
Volume29
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2013

Keywords

  • Carbon nanotubes
  • Cutting
  • Functionalisation
  • Purification

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science(all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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