Single-walled carbon nanotube-polystyrene nanocomposites: dispersing nanotubes in organic media

BACKGROUND: The insufficient dispersability of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in most common solvents (as a result of substantial van der Waals tube–tube attractions) makes it difficult to explore and understand their chemistry, and, therefore, implies many limitations for their practical applications. In this study, in order to overcome the intrinsic problems of SWNTs, a facile mechanochemical approach was developed to prepare polystyrene-SWNT nanocomposites, which could be well-dispersed in organic media. RESULTS: Here we report a simple method to prepare polystyrene-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes, which can be well dispersed in a series of organic solvents. The nanocomposites were prepared in the solid state using the high-speed vibration milling technique and were characterized by UV-VIS and FT-IR spectroscopy. In addition, their morphology was determined by TEM as well as SEM studies. CONCLUSION: This facile and simple solid-state reaction technique to prepare SWNT-PS nanocomposites eases not only the preparation of dispersions of SWNTs for further applications like device fabrications, but also in general the production of carbon nanotube-polymer nanocomposites. Furthermore, this facile preparation method to synthesize nanohybrids by a mechanochemical reaction has a superior potential for electronic applications of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry