Thermal treatment of the carbon nanotubes and its functionalization with styrene

ALEJANDRO DE FALCO; MIRTA L. FASCIO; MELISA E. LAMANNA; MARÍA A. CORCUERA; IÑAKI MONDRAGON; GERARDO H. RUBIOLO; NORMA B. D´ACCORSO; SILVIA GOYANES

PHYSICA B - CONDENSED MATTER

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2009 vol. 404 p. 2780 - 2783

0921-4526

In this work we studied the functionalization of commercially available multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) (Nanocyl3100) with polystyrene by the methods called ‘‘grafting from’’. The nanotubes were used as received and oxidized in air at 400 1C. The functionalization was started using thionyl chloride under reflux, followed by a reaction with ethyleneglycol which allowed the inclusion of hydroxyl groups. The reaction of those with 2-chloropropionyl chloride led to the generation of the polymerization initiator. Last, the radical polymerization of the functionalized nanotubes, using styrene as the monomer, led to new materials which were studied with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transforminfrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electronmicroscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy.