A Facile and Efficient Bromination of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

The bromination of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) was performed with vapor bromine in a closed vessel, and they were subjected to intensive stirring with a magnetic stirrer for up to 14 days. The efficiency of bromination was compared depending upon duration. The structure and surface of the crude and purified products were characterized by detailed physicochemical analyses, such as SEM/EDS, TEM, XRD, TGA, Raman, and XPS spectroscopies. The studies confirmed the presence of bromine covalently bound with nanotubes as well as the formation of inclusion MWCNT-Br₂ complexes. It was confirmed that Br₂ molecules are absorbed on the surface of nanotubes (forming the CNT-Br₂ complex), while they can dissociate close to dangling bonds at CNT defect sites with the formation of covalent C-Br bonds. Thus, any covalent attachment of bromine to the graphitic surface achieved around room temperature is likely related to the defects in the MWCNTs. The best results, i.e., the highest amount of attached Br₂, were obtained for brominated nanotubes brominated for 10 days, with the content of covalently bound bromine being 0.68 at% (by XPS).