Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are still one of the most promising nanocarbon materials despite being researched for over 30 years so far. CNTs have magnificent physical and chemical properties such as appreciable tensile strength, high electrical and thermal conductivity, tunable surface character, and chemical activity. However, the amount of structural defects have a high impact on these properties. Nevertheless, from a chemical point of view, these structural damages are often necessary to integrate CNTs with different materials. One of the most popular functionalization strategies is oxidization, which increases the hydrophilicity of the material at the expense of electrical conductivity.<br/><br/>Our research focused on the analysis how oxidation and reduction of CNTs influences their physicochemical properties. Modified Hummers method and piranha solution were used to oxidize highly crystalline single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), and then, hydrogen was used to reduce them at 400 °C for 1 hour. The process was monitored by Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that piranha solution does not increase the number of defects as significantly as the modified Hummers method. Finally, thin films were created from the obtained material, which were characterized to obtain information about their water contact angle (WCA), Seebeck coefficient, and electrical and thermal conductivity. It was observed that WCA after oxidation decreased from 77° to 24°, but reduction increased it back to 48°. As-produced material had a higher value of Seebeck coefficient 38 μV/K than non-functionalized SWCNTs (22 μV/K), thereby demonstrating its potential for application in thermoelectrics.

Impact of functionalization of carbon nanotubes on their physicochemical properties

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