Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes In Matrix Research Articles

Electrochemical lithiation and de-lithiation of MWNT–Sn/SnNi nanocomposites

Nanocrystalline multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)–Sn and MWNT–SnNi composite anode materials were prepared by chemical reduction of SnCl 2 and NiCl 2 precursors in the presence of MWNTs. SEM and TEM observations showed that the Sn and SnNi particles are homogeneously dispersed on the MWNT surface and in the MWNT matrix. The electrochemical performance of MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi nanocomposites has been investigated by charge/discharge tests, cyclic voltammetric experiments and the ac impedance technique. The MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi anodes have demonstrated a high first discharge capacity (570 and 512 mA h/g for MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi anodes, respectively), high charge/discharge efficiency in the first cycle (77.5% and 84.1% for MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi anodes, respectively), and good cyclability (0.99 loss%/cycle for MWNT/SnNi anode). A reaction model has been proposed to explain the reaction mechanisms of lithium insertion and extraction in the MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi electrodes.

Nanostructured electrode based on multi-wall carbon nanotubes/Pt microparticles nanocomposite for electrochemical determination of thiols in rat striatum by high performance liquid chromatography separation

In this paper, multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)/Pt microparticles nanocomposite was prepared by electrodepositing Pt microparticles onto the MWNTs matrix. The surface of glassy carbon electrode was modified with this kind of nanocomposite for measurement of thiols, such as l-cysteine ( l-Cys) and glutathione (GSH). Compared with the MWNTs or Pt microparticles modified electrode, the nanocomposite modified electrode exhibited high sensitivity and good stability for detection of thiols. According to the results of experiments, the peak currents of l-Cys and GSH are linear with their concentrations and the detection limits (S/N = 3) are 2.9 × 10 −8 mol/L and 4.5 × 10 −8 mol/L, respectively. Coupled with microdialysis, the method has been successfully applied to the determination of these two thiols in rat striatal microdialysates.