title: Towards highly stable aqueous dispersions of multi-walled carbon nanotubes: the effect of oxygen plasma functionalization.
abstract: In order to improve the dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in aqueous media, their surface functionalization was carried out in O2-fed low-pressure plasmas. Differently from what can be found in the literature of this field, homogeneous functionalization was achieved by generating the plasma inside vials containing the nanotube powders properly stirred. Experimental parameters, such as input power, treatment time and pressure, were varied to investigate their influence on the process efficiency. A detailed characterization of the plasma treated nanotubes, dry and in aqueous suspension, was carried out with a multi-diagnostic analytical approach, to evaluate their surface chemical properties, morphology, structural integrity and stability in the colloidal state. The plasma grafting of polar ionizable (e.g. acid) groups has been proved to successfully limit the agglomeration of MWCNTs and to produce nanotubes suspensions that are stable for one month and more in water.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi "Aldo Moro", via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy; Consorzio INSTM, UdR Bari, Italy. Electronic address: marta.garziatrulli@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garzia Trulli
authors.affiliation: CNR-NANOTEC, Istituto di Nanotecnologia, URT Bari c/o Dipartimento di Chimica, via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy; Consorzio INSTM, UdR Bari, Italy. Electronic address: eloisa.sardella@cnr.it.
authors.forename: Eloisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sardella
authors.affiliation: CNR-NANOTEC, Istituto di Nanotecnologia, URT Bari c/o Dipartimento di Chimica, via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy; Consorzio INSTM, UdR Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi "Aldo Moro", via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy; Center for Colloids and Surface Science - CSGI, RU Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palazzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Economia, Management e Diritto dell'Impresa, Università degli Studi "Aldo Moro", Largo Abbazia Santa Scolastica 53, Bari 70124, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorena Carla
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Giannossa
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi "Aldo Moro", via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy.
authors.forename: Annarosa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangone
authors.affiliation: CNR-IPCF, Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici, U.O.S. Bari c/o Dipartimento di Chimica, via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Comparelli
authors.affiliation: Schlumberger-Doll Research Laboratory, 1 Hampshire St, Cambridge, MA 02139-1578, United States.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Musso
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi "Aldo Moro", via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy; CNR-NANOTEC, Istituto di Nanotecnologia, URT Bari c/o Dipartimento di Chimica, via Orabona 4, Bari 70126, Italy; Consorzio INSTM, UdR Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Favia
keywords: Colloidal stability; MWCNT functionalization; Multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT); Plasma processing; Powders functionalization; Surface characterization