Synthesis of water-soluble poly(vinyl alcohol)-grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

A facile method for preparing waster-soluble poly(vinyl alcohol)-grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PVA-grafted MWNTs) was developed. Well-defined poly(vinyl acetate) chains end-capped by a cobalt(II) acetylacetonate (Co(acac) 2 ) complex [PVAc-Co(acac) 2 ] were synthesized by the cobalt-mediated radical polymerization (CMRP) of vinyl acetate. PVAc macroradicals generated by the homolytic cleavage of the carbon-cobalt (C-Co) bonds of PVAc-Co(acac) 2 chains were then grafted directly to the MWNTs via radical addition reactions in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at 50 o C. The amount of the PVAc grafted onto the surface of the MWNTs decreased with increasing molecular weight of PVAc-Co(acac) 2 . Hydrolysis of the grafted PVAc finally yielded PVA-grafted MWNTs, which showed good solubility in water. Surface functionalization of the MWNTs was confirmed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and TEM.

General Avenue to Individually Dispersed Graphene Oxide-Based Two-Dimensional Molecular Brushes by Free Radical Polymerization

“…Previously, FRP had been successfully used to covalently graft polymer chains on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by macromolecular radical addition to the reactive carbon−carbon double bonds, − casting a positive light for the polymer grafting on graphene oxide or graphene surface. Our synthesis strategy is illustrated in Scheme .…”

Effect of noncovalent chemical modification on the electrical conductivity and tensile properties of poly(methyl methacrylate)/carbon nanotube composites

“…Chemical functionalization of nanotube surfaces before composite preparation emerged to be an efficient method for dispersion and alignment improvement. Nanotubes that are surface‐functionalized by matrix polymer were found to be highly soluble in the same matrix and solubility depends on the functional group attached to the grafted polymer 10–13,14. Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was used successfully to develop many polymer thin films on nanotube surfaces, and the resulting nanohybrid structures were used for many composite systems 15.…”

Spectroscopic and Structural Investigation of Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Functionalized by Sulfonated Poly(ether-ether-ketone) Chains

“…A noncovalent supramolecular approach which involves polymer wrapping of the nanotubes was shown to be promising for reinforcing the polymers and extending their applications in electronic devices [13,14]. The covalent grafting of polymer chains onto CNTs is important because the long polymer chains help to improve the solubility of the tubes in a wide range of solvents even at a low degree of functionalization [15,16] and lead to a strong interfacial bonding between the two components [17]. Many methodologies were applied for the covalent attachment of polymeric chains to the surface of CNTs [15].…”