Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes with “Green” Detergents

Solubilization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is a fundamental technique for the use of CNTs and their conjugates as nanodevices and nanobiodevices. In this work, we demonstrate the preparation of CNT suspensions with “green” detergents made from coconuts and bamboo as fundamental research in CNT nanotechnology. Single-walled CNTs (SWNTs) with a few carboxylic acid groups (3–5%) and pristine multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs) were mixed in each detergent solution and sonicated with a bath-type sonicator. The prepared suspensions were characterized using absorbance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Among the eight combinations of CNTs and detergents (two types of CNTs and four detergents, including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as the standard), SWNTs/MWNTs were well dispersed in all combinations except the combination of the MWNTs and the bamboo detergent. The stability of the suspensions prepared with coconut detergents was better than that prepared with SDS. Because the efficiency of the bamboo detergents against the MWNTs differed significantly from that against the SWNTs, the natural detergent might be useful for separating CNTs. Our results revealed that the use of the “green” detergents had the advantage of dispersing CNTs as well as SDS.     

Separation of gold nanoparticles with a monolithic silica capillary column in liquid chromatography

A separation system for gold nanoparticles was developed using monolithic silica capillary columns with 50 μm i.d., which were prepared via in-situ sol-gel processes. Gold nanoparticles with five different average sizes were synthesized via reduction of tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl(4)) under different synthesis conditions, and were evaluated by UV-visible spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering as well as transmission electron microscopy before they were separated using the developed system. The results showed that all of the gold nanoparticles had a certain size distribution, and the mean sizes obtained were 13, 17, 33, 43 and 61 nm, with σ = 2.5, 2.7, 5.2, 5.1 and 5.6 nm, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the samples with mean sizes of 13 and 17 nm were almost spherical, while larger samples were slightly non-uniform. The agglomeration of gold nanoparticles as the sample could be prevented by using a sodium dodecyl sulfate aqueous solution as the mobile phase, and gold nanoparticles were retained by adsorption on the silica surface. Separation with 8 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate as the eluent and a 1000-mm column was successful, and the separation of gold nanoparticles with 61 and 17 nm or 61 and 13 nm was demonstrated. The separation results obtained using a nonporous silica packed column as well as monolithic silica columns with or without mesopore growth were compared. It was found that separation using the mesopore-less monolithic column achieved better resolution. Through the use of a 2000-mm separation column, the mixtures of 61, 43, 17 nm and 61, 33, 13 nm could be separated.