Abstract

The efficiency of various ionic liquids, specifically the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, chloride and dicyanamide salts, in dispersing single walled carbon nanotubes has been examined. The SWCNTs were dispersed in the ILs at varying concentrations by grinding. All of the ILs were found to be effective dispersants for nanotubes and quantitative evidences including X-ray scattering, Raman spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy unambiguously showed that BMIM[BF4] is the most efficient IL while BMIM[DCA] is the least effective IL. A quantitative analysis of the interactions between SWCNTs and ionic liquids by analyzing their scattering and spectral features is put forth.

Highlights

  • The unique combination of outstanding mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of CNTs makes them excellent for the fabrication of advanced structural and functional materials.[1]

  • We present a quantitative analysis of the dispersion of SWCNTs in ionic liquids with a wide range of anions by analyzing their scattering and spectral features

  • Due to the unique structure of the ionic liquids (ILs), the imidazolium ions have a substantial affinity for SWCNTs, and the organic salts adsorb onto the surface of the nanotubes.[18]

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Summary

Introduction

The unique combination of outstanding mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of CNTs makes them excellent for the fabrication of advanced structural and functional materials.[1] the practical applications of CNTs are limited because of their extremely low solubility and poor dispersion characteristics; CNTs tend to form aggregated bundles through van der Waals tube–tube interactions.[2] The approach to improve dispersion by covalent functionalization may disrupt the p-networks of CNTs and thereby reduce their inherent physical properties.[3] Through non-covalent functionalization, involving the adsorption of suitable molecules, effective dispersion of CNTs can be achieved while still preserving their desired properties.[3,4,5] Ionic and non-ionic surfactants have been widely investigated as stabilizing agents for CNTs in various aqueous and non-aqueous media.[6,7]

Materials and preparation
Characterization
Results and discussion
Conclusions
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