Grafting polymers to single-walled carbon nanotubes

Scope and method of study. The purpose of this study is to prepare stable dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) samples and fabricate layer-by layer films from polyelectrolyte-functionalized SWNT solutions. We use in situ free radical polymerization to attach polymer chains to the SWNT, and under sonication, those polymer chains help break large bundles of SWNT into small bundles and make stable black solutions.; Findings and conclusions. Stable dispersions of PS-SWNT in DMF, PtBA-SWNT in DMF, (PS-co-PtBA)-SWNT in DMF, and PNaA-SWNT in water were obtained by in situ free radical polymerization. AFM images show big bundles were broken into small ones after functionalization, and Raman spectra indicate covalent functionalization of sidewalls of SWNT from increase of D-band intensity with respect to G-band intensity.