Comparative study of nitrogen doped multi walled carbon nanotubes grafted with carboxy methyl cellulose hybrid composite by inverse gas chromatography and its UV photo detectors application

Abstract

In this present work, the synthesis of nitrogen doped multi walled carbon nanotubes (N-MWCNTs) grafted Sodium-carboxy methyl cellulose (Na-CMC) hybrid composite was carried out via thermal reduction process. The hybrid composites were thermodynamically characterized by inverse gas chromatography (IGC) and compared to Na-CMC particles. The results were obtained by using 14 different IGC methods and models. We proved that the free energy of adsorption of the different solvents on N-MWCNTs-Na-CMC surface was equal to the summation of both free enthalpies of the solvents separately adsorbed on N-MWCNT and on Na-CMC surfaces. The London dispersive surface free energy of different materials was calculated by using the various molecular models. The more precise results were obtained by Hamieh model based on the effect of the temperature on the surface area of organic molecules. It was proved that the dispersive component of the surface energy of N-MWCNTs-Na-CMC was equal to the geometric mean than that of N-MWCNTs and Na-CMC surfaces. Lewis Acid base properties of the various materials were determined by using the different models and methods. A stronger basic character was highlighted for the different solid surfaces with more accentuated acid base character for N-MWCNT solid. Furthermore, the potential usage of the hybrid nanocomposite was studied for the practical application of the self-powered UV photodetection. On the other hand, the N-MWCNTs-Na-CMC hybrid heterostructure N-MWCNTs-Na-CMC exhibited excellent photoresponse characteristics with a good stability and reproducibility under the UV illumination (λ=382 nm) at zero bias. The high photoresponse performances were mainly attributed to the improved conductivity and enhanced charge transfer resulting from the synergetic effect of N-MWCNTs-Na-CMC hybrid heterostructure. The detailed photoresponse properties of the N-MWCNTs-Na-CMC hybrid heterostructure was discussed in detail using energy band theory.