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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
Grafting Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Polystyrene to Enable Self-Assembly and Anisotropic Patchiness
Published on: April 1, 2018
Grafting modification and structural degradation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes under the effect of ultrasonics
Qiuying Li1, Yulu Ma, Chuang Mao
1Polymer Alloy Lab., School of Material Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China.
Abstract:
Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared by the degradation effect of ultrasonics sonochemistry. PVP macroradicals formed by sonochemical degradation of a PVP solution were trapped by MWCNTs and grafted onto the surface of MWCNTs. It was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis that the PVP was covalently bonded on the MWCNTs. Transmission electron microscopy showed nanotubes in the grafted samples were shorter than the original MWCNTs due to the crushing effect of ultrasonics sonochemistry. Both the decrease in length of the MWCNTs and the PVP grafted onto them are beneficial for their dispersion in solvents.
