title: Generic approach for dispersing single-walled carbon nanotubes: the strength of a weak interaction.
abstract: A generic noncovalent approach for dispersing high concentrations of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) in organic as well as aqueous solutions of synthetic block copolymers is presented. It is suggested that a weak, long-ranged entropic repulsion among polymer-decorated tubes acts as a barrier that prevents the tubes from approaching the attractive part of the intertube potential. The method opens a new route for utilization of block copolymers as compatibilizers for SWNT, improving the incorporation of de-agglomerated SWNT into target polymeric matrixes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Ilse Katz Center for Meso- and Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, 84105 Beer Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shvartzman-Cohen
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Levi-Kalisman
authors.forename: Einat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nativ-Roth
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yerushalmi-Rozen