Rapid carbon nanotubes suspension in organic solvents using organosilicon polymers

Federico Dalcanale; Jonas Grossenbacher; Gurdial Blugan; Maurizio R Gullo; Jürgen Brugger; Hendrik Tevaearai; Thomas Graule; Jakob Kuebler

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.02.050

Rapid carbon nanotubes suspension in organic solvents using organosilicon polymers

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 May 15:470:123-131. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.02.050. Epub 2016 Feb 23.

Authors

Federico Dalcanale¹, Jonas Grossenbacher², Gurdial Blugan³, Maurizio R Gullo⁴, Jürgen Brugger⁵, Hendrik Tevaearai⁶, Thomas Graule⁷, Jakob Kuebler⁸

Affiliations

¹ Empa, Laboratory for High Performance Ceramics, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, Duebendorf, Switzerland; Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland. Electronic address: dalca82@hotmail.com.
² Microsystems Laboratory, EPFL, Station 17, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: jonas.grossenbacher@epfl.ch.
³ Empa, Laboratory for High Performance Ceramics, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, Duebendorf, Switzerland. Electronic address: Gurdial.Blugan@empa.ch.
⁴ Microsystems Laboratory, EPFL, Station 17, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: rosario.gullo@rudevoltage.ch.
⁵ Microsystems Laboratory, EPFL, Station 17, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: juergen.brugger@epfl.ch.
⁶ Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, Inselspital Berne, Berne University Hospital and University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland. Electronic address: Hendrik.TevaearaiStahel@insel.ch.
⁷ Empa, Laboratory for High Performance Ceramics, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, Duebendorf, Switzerland. Electronic address: Thomas.Graule@empa.ch.
⁸ Empa, Laboratory for High Performance Ceramics, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Ueberlandstrasse 129, Duebendorf, Switzerland. Electronic address: Jakob.Kuebler@empa.ch.

PMID: 26939076
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.02.050

Abstract

A strategy for a simple dispersion of commercial multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using two organosilicones, polycarbosilane SMP10 and polysilazane Ceraset PSZ20, in organic solvents such as cyclohexane, tetrahydrofuran (THF), m-xylene and chloroform is presented. In just a few minutes the combined action of sonication and the presence of Pt(0) catalyst is sufficient to obtain a homogeneous suspension, thanks to the rapid hydrosilylation reaction between SiH groups of the polymer and the CNT sidewall. The as-produced suspensions have a particle size distribution <1μm and remain unchanged after several months. A maximum of 0.47 and 0.50mg/ml was achieved, respectively, for Ceraset in THF and SMP10 in chloroform. Possible applications as polymeric and ceramic thin films or aerogels are presented.

Keywords: Aerogel; Hydrosilylation; MWCNT suspension; Polycarbosilane; Polysilazane.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't