TY - JOUR
T1 - Conductive carbon-nanotube/polymer composites
T2 - Spectroscopic monitoring of the exfoliation process in water
AU - Grossiord, N.
AU - Loos, J.
AU - Meuldijk, J.
AU - Regev, O.
AU - Miltner, H. E.
AU - Van Mele, B.
AU - Koning, C. E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are thankful to the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI) for the financial support of DPI project # 416. We thank Professor Satish Kumar of the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) for his help and useful suggestions. We want to acknowledge Johan van de Sande for the useful advice related to the experimental part, as well as Professor René Janssen, Dr. Stefan Meskers and Dr. Peter Bobbert for the helpful discussions. Special thanks also to Jurriën Mans for carrying out part of the experiments.
PY - 2007/4/1
Y1 - 2007/4/1
N2 - A novel and extremely simple UV-Vis spectroscopy technique for monitoring the ultrasound-driven exfoliation of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in an aqueous solution of a surfactant is described. The principle of the method is based on the fact that only individual SWNTs absorb UV and visible light. Approaching a plateau value in the UV-Vis absorption, recorded as a function of time and/or the total ultrasonic energy supplied to the system, indicates that the maximum degree of exfoliation has been achieved. Accordingly further energy input should be avoided in order to prevent undesired damage of the SWNTs. Scanning electron microscopy pictures confirm that the leveling off of the absorbance corresponds to the maximum exfoliation of SWNTs. The proposed combination of absorption and imaging techniques offers a cheap, reliable and a viable method for monitoring SWNT exfoliation, assessable to almost all research groups.
AB - A novel and extremely simple UV-Vis spectroscopy technique for monitoring the ultrasound-driven exfoliation of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in an aqueous solution of a surfactant is described. The principle of the method is based on the fact that only individual SWNTs absorb UV and visible light. Approaching a plateau value in the UV-Vis absorption, recorded as a function of time and/or the total ultrasonic energy supplied to the system, indicates that the maximum degree of exfoliation has been achieved. Accordingly further energy input should be avoided in order to prevent undesired damage of the SWNTs. Scanning electron microscopy pictures confirm that the leveling off of the absorbance corresponds to the maximum exfoliation of SWNTs. The proposed combination of absorption and imaging techniques offers a cheap, reliable and a viable method for monitoring SWNT exfoliation, assessable to almost all research groups.
KW - A. Polymer-matrix composites
KW - Carbon-nanotube dispersion
KW - D. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33846326517&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.compscitech.2006.01.035
DO - 10.1016/j.compscitech.2006.01.035
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33846326517
SN - 0266-3538
VL - 67
SP - 778
EP - 782
JO - Composites Science and Technology
JF - Composites Science and Technology
IS - 5
ER -