Polymers 2012, 4(1), 296-315; doi:10.3390/polym4010296
Article

Selective Grafting of Primary Amines onto Carbon Nanotubes via Free-Radical Treatment in Microwave Plasma Post-Discharge

Benoit Ruelle 1,* email, Sophie Peeterbroeck 1 email, Thomas Godfroid 1 email, Carla Bittencourt 2 email, Michel Hecq 1,2 email, Rony Snyders 1,2 email and Philippe Dubois 1,2,* email
1 Center of Innovation and Research in Materials & Polymers (CIRMAP), Materia Nova Research Center, Parc Initialis, Avenue, N. Copernic 1, B-7000 Mons, Belgium 2 Center of Innovation and Research in Materials & Polymers (CIRMAP), University of Mons, Place du Parc 20, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 December 2011; in revised form: 6 January 2012 / Accepted: 10 January 2012 / Published: 30 January 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [662 KB, Updated Version, uploaded 31 January 2012 15:44 CET]
The original version is still available [1400 KB, uploaded 30 January 2012 11:03 CET]
Abstract: A novel strategy to graft functional groups at the surface of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is discussed. Aiming at grafting nitrogen containing groups, and more specifically primary amine covalent functionalization, CNTs were exposed under atomic nitrogen flow arising from an Ar + N2 microwave plasma. The primary amine functions were identified and quantified through chemical derivatization with 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzaldehyde and characterized through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The increase of the selectivity in the primary amines grafting onto CNTs, up to 66.7% for treatment of CNT powder, was performed via the reduction of post-treatment oxygen contamination and the addition of hydrogen in the experimental set-up, more particularly in the plasma post-discharge chamber. The analyses of nitrogenated and primary amine functions grafting on the CNT surface suggest that atomic nitrogen (N•) and reduced nitrogen species (NH• and NH2•) react preferentially with defect sites of CNTs and, then, only atomic nitrogen continues to react on the CNT surface, creating defects.
Keywords: carbon nanotubes; atomic nitrogen; primary amine grafting; microwave plasma; XPS

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Ruelle, B.; Peeterbroeck, S.; Godfroid, T.; Bittencourt, C.; Hecq, M.; Snyders, R.; Dubois, P. Selective Grafting of Primary Amines onto Carbon Nanotubes via Free-Radical Treatment in Microwave Plasma Post-Discharge. Polymers 2012, 4, 296-315.

AMA Style

Ruelle B, Peeterbroeck S, Godfroid T, Bittencourt C, Hecq M, Snyders R, Dubois P. Selective Grafting of Primary Amines onto Carbon Nanotubes via Free-Radical Treatment in Microwave Plasma Post-Discharge. Polymers. 2012; 4(1):296-315.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ruelle, Benoit; Peeterbroeck, Sophie; Godfroid, Thomas; Bittencourt, Carla; Hecq, Michel; Snyders, Rony; Dubois, Philippe. 2012. "Selective Grafting of Primary Amines onto Carbon Nanotubes via Free-Radical Treatment in Microwave Plasma Post-Discharge." Polymers 4, no. 1: 296-315.

Polymers EISSN 2073-4360 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert