Superacid-Surfactant Exchange: Enabling Nondestructive Dispersion of Full-Length Carbon Nanotubes in Water.

ABSTRACT: Attaining aqueous solutions of individual, long single-walled carbon nanotubes is a critical first step for harnessing the extraordinary properties of these materials. However, the widely used ultrasonication-ultracentrifugation approach and its variants inadvertently cut the nanotubes into short pieces. The process is also time-consuming and difficult to scale. Here we present an unexpectedly simple solution to this decade-old challenge by directly neutralizing a nanotube-chlorosulfonic acid solution in the presence of sodium deoxycholate. This straightforward superacid-surfactant exchange eliminates the need for both ultrasonication and ultracentrifugation altogether, allowing aqueous solutions of individual nanotubes to be prepared within minutes and preserving the full length of the na

SUBMITTER: Wang P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6016833 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature