Cross-Linking of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Polyethylene Glycol

Abstract

In this paper a new approach to cross-link two individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by a nucleophilic substitution of brominated MWCNTs using polyethylene glycol anion was introduced. The functionalized MWCNTs were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. It is found that polyethylene glycol act as cross-linking agents to interconnect or cross-link the MWCNTs within and among the bundles, as demonstrated by TEM analysis, and few defects will be induced to the nanotube sidewalls. After cross-linking of PEG, the functionalized MWCNTs are still insoluble in any solvent; however, the morphologies of the cross-linked MWCNTs were largely intact, undoubtedly which will provide a useful way to construct nanoscale devices with MWCNTs in the future.

Keywords:

• Characterization
• Cross-linking
• Multi-walled carbon nanotubes
• Polyethylene glycol

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50772133), Central South University Science Development Foundation (No. 10SDF04), Innovation Foundation of Central South University of China (No. 134376211) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 201012200146) is greatly appreciated.