Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were first discovered in the early 1990s. They are 100 times stronger than steel and one-sixth the weight, have several times the electrical and thermal conductivity of copper and lack most of the environmental or physical degradation issues related to most metals. The drawback is that CNTs have a tendency to aggregate into clumps, where their properties are best utilized when dispersed. Adding to the difficulty is that CNTs are insoluble in many liquids, making even dispersion difficult. A new method has been developed at Japan’s Kyushu University and reviewed by Dr. Tsuyohiko Fujigaya and Dr. Naotoshi Nakashima that “exfoliates” aggregated clumps of CNTs and disperses them in solvents. The technique is called non-covalent polymer wrapping and it works by wrapping the CNTs in a polymer using a non-electron sharing bond. Non-covalent bonding was chosen because covalent bonding, the sharing of electrons within the bond, can change the intrinsic properties of the carbon nanotubes, where non-covalent has minimal effects in most cases. A wide variety of polymers were found to be able to disperse the CNTs and many have been able to add new functions to the tubes. This research has implications in biomedicine and to improve photovoltaic functionality, as well as other fields.
For more information see Phys.org.