Thermal decomposition of the carbon nanotube/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>precursor powders

Summary TG-DSC-MS (thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry-mass spectrometry) coupling techniques were used to make a simultaneous characterizing study for the thermal decomposition process of the carbon nanotube (CNT)/SiO₂precursor powders prepared by rapid sol-gel method. The thermal stability of the CNT and the SiO₂pure gel were investigated by TG-DSC. The results showed that the oxidation of CNT began from 530 and combusted at about 678°C at the heating rate of 10°C min^-1in air. Moreover, the faster the heating rate, the higher the temperature of CNT combustion. The appropriate calcinations temperature of the CNT/SiO₂precursor powders should be held for 1 h at 500°C.     

A feasible strategy to constructing hybrid conductive networks in PLA‐based composites modified by CNT‐d‐RGO particles and PEG for mechanical and electrical properties

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) were successfully assembled by chemical reaction to obtain CNT‐d‐RGO particles. Then, a home‐made dynamic impregnating device was used to prepare hybrid CNT‐d‐RGO/polyethylene glycol (PEG). Next, the different modifiers, including CNTs, GO, CNT‐d‐RGO, PEG, and CNT‐d‐RGO/PEG, were, respectively, added into poly‐(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix via melt‐compounding. The dispersed morphology for these different modifiers within the PLA matrix was confirmed by SEM and TEM observations. Especially, compared with the identical weight ratio of CNT‐d‐RGO, the hybrid CNT‐d‐RGO/PEG within the PLA matrix exhibited an excellent exfoliated and interconnected networks morphology. Moreover, compared with pure PLA, not only the crystallinity of all PLA‐based composites notably improved, but half‐crystallization time was also shortened. Furthermore, despite the addition of different modifiers, the crystal form of PLA‐based composites remained unchanged. Noticeably, compared with those of pure PLA, the tensile stress, strain, and modulus of PLA composite added with CNT‐d‐RGO/PEG increased by 29.4%, 4.1%, and 56.1%, respectively, and the V‐notch impact strength slightly improved. In addition, compared with pure PLA, volume resistivity of the PLA composite added with 1 wt% CNT‐d‐RGO/PEG decreased by 93.1%, and its volume conductivity increased by five orders of magnitude.     

金刚石、碳纳米管、碳纳米管/纳米金刚石复合物的制备及生长机制研究

采用PECVD技术,通过对基片使用不同的预处理方法和沉积参数,合成了金刚石、碳纳米管及碳纳米管/纳米金刚石复合物.利用SEM,TEM,拉曼光谱对样品的形貌、成分和结构进行了研究.结果表明,在制备样品的过程中,基片的预处理方法和CH4/H2流量比至关重要,它们将影响所制得样品的晶粒大小、形核密度以及微观结构.     

Nonlinear in-plane thermal buckling of rotationally restrained functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite shallow arches under uniform radial loading

The nonlinear in-plane instability of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) shallow circular arches with rotational constraints subject to a uniform radial load in a thermal environment is investigated. Assuming arches with thickness-graded material properties, four different distribution patterns of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered. The classical arch theory and Donnell’s shallow shell theory assumptions are used to evaluate the arch displacement field, and the analytical solutions of buckling equilibrium equations and buckling loads are obtained by using the principle of virtual work. The critical geometric parameters are introduced to determine the criteria for buckling mode switching. Parametric studies are carried out to demonstrate the effects of temperature variations, material parameters, geometric parameters, and elastic constraints on the stability of the arch. It is found that increasing the volume fraction of CNTs and distributing CNTs away from the neutral axis significantly enhance the bending stiffness of the arch. In addition, the pretension and initial displacement caused by the temperature field have significant effects on the buckling behavior.     

Carbon Nanotube‐Adsorbed Electrospun Nanofibrous Membranes as Coating for Electrochemical Sensors for Sulfhydryl Compounds

A new method to modify electrodes with carbon nanotubes (CNT) was developed. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) were adsorbed on the electrospun nylon‐6 nanofibrous membranes (Ny‐6‐NFM) and used as a coating to modify conventional glassy carbon electrodes. The modified electrode was designed for the amperometric detection of sulfhydryl compounds with the potential held at +0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The modified electrode showed a linear response for cysteine up to 0.4 mM (R²=0.997), with a sensitivity of 5.1 µA/mM and a detection limit of 15 µM. Other sulfhydryl compounds showed similar results. After use, the Ny‐6‐NFM was easily peeled off, leaving the bare electrode surface back to its original electrochemical behaviour. This is the first attempt to use a disposable membrane functionalized with MWNT for electroanalytical purposes.     

Adsorption modeling and mechanistic insight of hazardous chromium on para toluene sulfonic acid immobilized-polyaniline@CNTs nanocomposites

The development of highly efficient adsorbents materials for the purification of wastewater has caught a considerable deal of attention these days. Conducting polymers functionalized adsorbents has become a favorable route for enhancing their adsorption capability due to their ease of synthesis at laboratory scale. In this study, functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT)-polyaniline (Pani) composites were fabricated using an oxidation polymerization methodology and later doped with para toluene sulfonic acid (pTSA). The CNTs provided an adequate substrate for the adhesion of Pani as well as a large surface area due to its nano size, and pTSA provided additional functionality for the adsorption of differently charged moieties through strong or weak interactions. The as-synthesized pTSA-Pani@CNT nanocomposite was analyzed by the scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy for the morphological studies and the structural analysis were done by the X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The characterization results confirmed that the Pani was adhered to the CNTs as well as its successful functionalization with pTSA. The pTSA-Pani@CNT composite was then applied to the adsorptive removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and the composite showed higher adsorption for Cr(VI) than pTSA-CNT and pTSA-Pani, and the maximum removal level was detected at acidic pH. The analyses of the equilibrium isotherms and adsorption kinetics were performed to elucidate the adsorption mechanism. The XPS analysis indicated that Cr(VI) was strongly bounded to the adsorbent and it further indicated that the amine, imine, and hydroxyl functional groups were involved in the adsorption process. This study presents a new insight for the fabrication of highly functional polymer-carbonaceous nanocomposites for the scavenging of heavy metals from water bodies.     

Application of carbon nanotubes in extraction and chromatographic analysis: A review

Carbon nanotube (CNT), a well-known carbon-based nanomaterial has drawn much attention in many application fields including chemistry in the last few decades. Many researchers and scientists have shown huge interest to improve the extraction methodologies and adopt their applications in combination with chromatography technique. With respect to this, the exceptional applications of CNTs have been introduced as extraction sorbent due to their excellent inborn physical and chemical properties. In particular, CNTs have consistently been used as adsorbents in various techniques including solid-phase micro-extraction, solid-phase extraction, micro dispersive slid phase extraction, magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction, analytes enrichment, sample fractionation and clean-up as well as support for many derivatization reactions. Many research papers have discussed the successful use of CNTs to overcome the limitations of the extraction techniques due to their excellent sorbent capacity. In addition, considering the clear need to make chromatographic technique more successful, the applications of CNTs have been reported in the literatures in details as stationary and pseudo-stationary phases for the separation and extraction of challenging compounds. Because of the higher thermal and chemical stability, CNTs have been anticipated as stationary phase modifier for chromatographic applications to avoid bleeding of the columns and enable the analysis even at very high temperature (1200 °C). In liquid chromatography CNTs have primarily been used in combination with other packing materials (silica) and sometimes incorporated in a porous polymeric monolith. Therefore, the recent utilizations of CNTs as extraction materials and stationary phases have been illustrated in the current review and a table listing the details applications of CNTs in aforementioned field is provided as well. We believe that the review will help researcher to gain vast knowledge about application of carbon nanotubes in the field of separation chemistry.     

N掺杂碳纳米管环吸附Fe原子的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的CASTEP程序研究N掺杂碳纳米管环结构在变形作用下,外壁对Fe原子的吸附能力.结果表明,构造出的新型纳米结构的结合能为负值,具有稳定存在的可能性;N掺杂碳纳米管环显著提高外壁对Fe原子的吸附能力,这是因为掺杂体系的活度增大,易与Fe原子间形成Fe-N共价结合键.线性增加拉伸和压缩变形幅度,结构外壁对Fe原子的吸附能呈抛物线式快速下降.相比之下,吸附能对拉伸变形更加敏感.     

碳纳米管/铜纳米结构电极材料在葡萄糖检测中的应用

利用电化学沉积法制备了碳纳米管/铜纳米结构电极材料, 采用扫描电子显微镜和电化学方法对电极表面的形貌和电化学性质进行了表征. 结果表明, 碳纳米管/铜纳米结构电极材料具有较大的电化学活性表面积、 高稳定性、 良好的导电性以及高葡萄糖电氧化活性, 有望用于葡萄糖的检测.     

Field emission of carbon nanotube array with normal-gate cold cathode

A hexagon pitch carbon nanotube (CNT) array vertical to the normal gate of cold cathode field emission displayer (FED) is simulated by solving the Laplace equation. The calculated results show that the normal gate causes the electric field around the CNT tops to be concentrated and emission electron beam become a column. The field enhancement factor and the emission current intensity step up greatly compared with those of diode structure. Emission current density increases rapidly with the decrease of normal-gate aperture. The gate voltage exerts a critical influence on the emission current.