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Updated: Jun 11, 2026
Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: February 19, 2016
Spontaneous dissolution of ultralong single- and multiwalled carbon nanotubes
A Nicholas G Parra-Vasquez1, Natnael Behabtu, Micah J Green
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
Abstract:
We report that chlorosulfonic acid is a true solvent for a wide range of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), including single-walled (SWNTs), double-walled (DWNTs), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), and CNTs hundreds of micrometers long. The CNTs dissolve as individuals at low concentrations, as determined by cryo-TEM (cryogenic transmission electron microscopy), and form liquid-crystalline phases at high concentrations. The mechanism of dissolution is electrostatic stabilization through reversible protonation of the CNT side walls, as previously established for SWNTs. CNTs with highly defective side walls do not protonate sufficiently and, hence, do not dissolve. The dissolution and liquid-crystallinity of ultralong CNTs are critical advances in the liquid-phase processing of macroscopic CNT-based materials, such as fibers and films.
