The influence of treatment temperature on the acidity of MWCNT oxidized by HNO3 or a mixture of HNO3/H2SO4

The nature of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) varies with the change in oxidation conditions. In this work, the effect of treatment temperatures on the acidity of MWCNTs was studied. Oxidation was performed by refluxing the MWCNTs in nitric acid or mixtures of sulfuric acid and nitric acid at different temperatures. After oxidative treatment, a quantitative characterization of o-MWCNTs has been performed using acid-base titrations which show that the number of surface acidic functional groups increased by increasing the treatment temperatures. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) measurements show that the oxygen content increased with increasing treatment temperatures. Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR) was used for qualitative characterization. It has been demonstrated that the acidity is a function of the type of oxidizing agent used and the treatment temperatures. Due to the importance in attachment strategies and functionalization, this study adds to the global discussion of the possibility of controlling the MWCNTs' surface chemistry which plays a crucial role in determining its reactivity. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.