Here, we report on a novel method of incorporating carbon nanotubes into a polymer matrix by using
carbon nanotubes as a chain transfer agent (CTA) in Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer
(RAFT) polymerisations. The dithioester RAFT agents were covalently linked to multi-walled carbon
nanotubes (MWCNTs) via a method, which involved the reaction of acyl halide MWCNTs with a
magnesium chloride dithiopropanoate salt. Polystyrene (PSt) was subsequently grafted from the
MWCNT surface via the core-first technique, which implies an outward growth of polymer chains
from the core, using the R-group approach. The structure and morphology of the hybrid nanomaterials
were investigated using FTIR, NMR, thrmogravimetric analysis (TGA) and atomic force microscopy
(AFM) techniques. The results showed that the MWCNT chain transfer agent could be successfully
used to mediate the growth of polystyrene polymer from the MWCNT surface via the living radical
polymerisation approach.
Vertically aligning carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) onto 2D porous materials is advantageous for many conceivable
electronic applications but also for investigating the unique water transport properties of CNTs and the molecular
separation of molecules during fluid transport through their inner shell. Here we report a wet chemical technique to
produce vertically-aligned single walled CNT arrays on porous silicon (pSi). The nanotubes were first acid treated to
produce carboxylic acid functionalities on the single-walled CNT. The carboxy-functional nanotubes were then
covalently immobilised on a pSi surface that had been either ozone treated or silanated with aminopropyl triethoxysilane
(APTES). The VACNT surfaces were analysed with atomic force microscopy (AFM), confocal Raman spectral imaging
and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Dense arrays of VACNTs were observed with the obtained CNT
orientation and surface coverage depending upon attachment method and attachment reaction time.
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