Preparation of Poly(acrylic acid) Grafted Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes by a Two-Step Irradiation Technique

Abstract

A facile strategy to prepare water-soluble multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by two steps of γ radiation is developed. First, MWNTs are irradiated in ethanol. The radiolysis of ethanol produces many active species such as • CH 2 CH 2 OH and • CH(CH 3 )OH which react with CdC bonds on the surface of MWNTs. Afterward, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) is covalently grafted to the surface of modified MWNTs by radiation in the presence of acrylic acid. FT-IR, 1 H NMR, and TGA results showed that PAA chains were successfully grafted onto the surface of MWNTs. The TEM images also provide direct evidence of the formation of a core-shell structure, and the external diameter of resultant MWNTs is increased remarkably. The PAA-g-MWNTs have very good solubility in water and other polar solvents. This two-step grafting approach may also be employed introducing other functional polymer chains onto MWNTs.

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites: preparation and characterizations

“…For the MWNTs-OH, Figure 1(C) shows that the peaks arise from the stretching vibration of C=O and -CÀO bonds of ester groups are shifted from 1721 cm À1 and 1180 cm À1 to 1736 cm À1 and 1200 cm À1 , respectively, as compared with the MWNTs-COOH. This observation confirms that ÀCOCl group of MWNTs-COCl can react with 1,3-propanediol to form MWNTs-OH [30,31]. It is also found that the hydroxyl-stretching band appears as a strong broad band at 3438 cm À1 for the MWNTs-COOH but it is observed at 3419 cm À1 for the MWNTs-OH.…”

Covalently functionalized carbon nanotubes as macroinitiators for radical polymerization

“…Among polymers selected to grafting onto CNTs by an in situ process, water-soluble macromolecules are very attractive because the resulting composite materials could have potential applications in biology [6]. Using the ATRP technique or the gamma radiation-induced graft polymerization, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) chains were found to attach onto the CNT sidewalls [7,8]. In this work, we propose an alternative modification scheme, which involves the ceric-ion induced redox radical grafting of the water-soluble macromolecules.…”

Characterizing composite of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and POE‐g‐AA prepared via melting method

“…Additionally, dangling bonds on MWNTs are generated in organic solvents, conferring ability of further chemical reactions. 21,22 Dispersion of oxidized MWNTs in solvents or polymer matrices can be further enhanced by the grafting of organic polymers onto their surfaces. Hill et al 23 declared the effectiveness of functionalized CNTs with a polystyrene copolymer by the esterification of carboxylic acid-functionalized nanotubes.…”