Issue 8, 2016

A simple quantitative estimate of the number of functional groups on the surfaces of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We develop a quantitative analytical method to estimate the number of functional groups on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) surfaces by simply measuring the Raman features of functionalized SWNTs. We use diazonium chemistry to attach functional groups to the SWNT surfaces and calculate the number of functional groups on the SWNTs by measuring their densities and using the analytical method developed in this study. We successfully establish a linear relationship between the independently estimated number of functional groups per carbon atom and the area ratio of the disorder mode (D peak, 1289 cm−1) to the tangential mode (G peak, 1582 cm−1) from the Raman measurements. From this study, we find that the injected reagents do not completely react with SWNT after 0.0263 functional groups per carbon atom are already attached to SWNT surfaces, e.g., 2.354 functional groups per nm (6, 5) of SWNT, therefore above this range, there is no linear relationship between the number of functional groups on SWNTs estimated from injected reagent concentration and the D to G area ratio (AD/G) of the Raman features. However, the number of functional groups per carbon atom (nf) estimated using the analytical method developed in this study linearly depends on the area ratio of D to G peaks of the Raman spectrum even above this range (nf = 0.02AD/G), therefore this simple and quick estimation scheme can provide an analytical basis for a variety of SWNT applications. We take into account the decrease of the number of surfactants by the coverage of functional groups on SWNTs in this scheme, and also verified that this relation is valid irrespective of SWNT diameter distributions.

Graphical abstract: A simple quantitative estimate of the number of functional groups on the surfaces of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Nov 2015
Accepted
06 Jan 2016
First published
11 Jan 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 6451-6458

Author version available

A simple quantitative estimate of the number of functional groups on the surfaces of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Q. B. Vu Ngoc, M. Choi and W. Kim, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 6451 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA24345A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements