Journal
ACS NANO
Volume 4, Issue 7, Pages 3969-3978Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/nn100864v
Keywords
carbon nanotubes; solubility; liquid crystals; long nanotubes; nanotube carpets; VACNT; SWNT; MWNT; DWNT; CNT; cryo-TEM
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Funding
- AFOSR [FA9550-06-1-0207, FA9550-09-1-0590]
- AFRL [FA8650-07-2-5061, 07-S568-0042-01-C1]
- NSF Division of Materials [06090077]
- Robert A. Welch Foundation [C-1668]
- United States Israel Binational Science Foundation
- Evans-Attwell Welch Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Technion Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute
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We report that chlorosulfonic acid is a true solvent for a wide range of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), including single-walled (SWNTs), double-walled (DWNTs), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), and CNTs hundreds of micrometers long. The CNTs dissolve as individuals at low concentrations, as determined by cryoTEM (cryogenic transmission electron microscopy), and form liquid-crystalline phases at high concentrations. The mechanism of dissolution is electrostatic stabilization through reversible protonation of the CNT side walls, as previously established for SWNTs. CNTs with highly defective side walls do not protonate sufficiently and, hence, do not dissolve. The dissolution and liquid-crystallinity of ultralong CNTs are critical advances in the liquid-phase processing of macroscopic CNT-based materials, such as fibers and films.
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