While visiting Salt Lake City, Utah for the 237th ACS National Meeting, I attended some intriguing talks by chemists from around the world. The central theme for the meeting was "Nanoscience: Challenges for the Future." I was particularly interested in a talk given by Dr. Jaime Grunlan from Texas A&M University because it relates to my presentation topic for our class. Dr. Grunlan's paper was titled, "Tailoring carbon nanotube microstructure through noncovalent interactions."
Covalent functionalization introduces defects that affect transport properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes, such as the electrical conductivity. On the other hand, noncovalent functionalization does not damage carbon nanotubes and it shows better conductivity.
Nanotubes hate water and they fall apart when placed in water. To hold nanotubes together in water, Dr. Grunlan and his research colleagues suggest using clay, which is cheap and naturally abundant. Clay can act as a solid surfactant and won't damage the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. The clay also improves the conductivity of the nanotubes.
He cited the following article in his presentation. (I couldn't get the full paper to work, but here is the abstract:)
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/114801405/abstract
Information about Dr. Jaime Grunlan at Texas A&M:
http://www1.mengr.tamu.edu/PolymerNanoComposites/
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So, is the clay added to the mixture as a suspension? I am not clear how clay affects the solubility of the nanotubes. Interesting.
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