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Updated: May 30, 2026

Grafting Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Polystyrene to Enable Self-Assembly and Anisotropic Patchiness
Published on: April 1, 2018
Synthesis and characterization of poly(butylene oxide) grafted carbon nanofibers
Carlos T Ramos1, Ram Thapa, Karen Lozano
1Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas-Pan American, 1201 W. University Drive, Edinburg, Texas 78539, USA.
Abstract:
The grafting of polybutylene oxide onto purified and functionalized carbon nanofibers is reported. Grafting was possible after the insertion of 2-(formyloxy)ethyl 2-bromo-2-methylpropanoate onto the carbon nanofibers. The polymerization of tetrahydrofuran was mediated by copper(I) bromide and 1,1,4,7-pentamethyl diethylenetriamine. The polymer-grafted carbon nanofibers were characterized by Raman spectrsocopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Thermogravimetric Analysis. TEM images of CNF-COOH (A), CNF-PBO (B), completely open tip of CNF-COOH, and coated tip of CNF-PBO (D) are shown in the left panel. The right panel depicts the distribution of bromine (blue), and carbon (red) atoms inside and in the vicinity of CNF-Br (as obtained by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy). The bottom shows the actual doped CNF. Preliminary data showed that these modified fibers have potential applications as smart (electrorheological) fluids.
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