Dispersing and Separating Carbon Nanotubes with Novel Surfactant Formulations

Abstract

As-synthesized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) typically possess a range of diameters and electronic properties. This polydispersity has hindered the development of many SWNT-based technologies and encouraged the development of post-synthetic methods for sorting SWNTs by their physical and electronic structure. Herein, we demonstrate that nonionic, biocompatible block copolymers can be used to isolate semiconducting and metallic SWNTs using density gradient ultracentrifugation. Separations conducted with different Pluronic block copolymers reveal that Pluronics with shorter hydrophobic chain lengths lead to higher purity semiconducting SWNTs, resulting in semiconducting purity levels in excess of 99% obtained for Pluronic F68. In contrast, X-shaped Tetronic block copolymers display an affinity for metallic SWNTs, yielding metallic purity levels of 74% for Tetronic 1107. These results suggest that high fidelity and high yield density gradient separations can be achieved using nonionic block copolymers with rationally designed homopolymer segments, thus generating biocompatible monodisperse SWNTs for a range of applications.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA535065

Entities

People

  • Alexander A. Green
  • Alexander L. Antaris
  • Jung-woo T. Seo
  • Mark Hersam

Organizations

  • Northwestern University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Block Copolymers
  • Carbon Nanotubes
  • Copolymers
  • Dispersions
  • Energy Bands
  • Engineering
  • Field Effect Transistors
  • Fullerenes
  • Hydrophilic Properties
  • Hydrophobic Properties
  • Materials
  • Materials Science
  • Military Research
  • Molecular Weight
  • Nanotechnology
  • Polymers
  • Students

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Polymer Science and Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics