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Premkumar T, Mezzenga R, Geckeler KE. Carbon nanotubes in the liquid phase: addressing the issue of dispersion. Small. 2012;8(9):1299-313doi: 10.1002/smll.201101786.
Premkumar, T., Mezzenga, R., & Geckeler, K. E. (2012). Carbon nanotubes in the liquid phase: addressing the issue of dispersion. Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 8(9), 1299-313. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201101786
Premkumar, Thathan, et al. "Carbon nanotubes in the liquid phase: addressing the issue of dispersion." Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) vol. 8,9 (2012): 1299-313. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201101786
Premkumar T, Mezzenga R, Geckeler KE. Carbon nanotubes in the liquid phase: addressing the issue of dispersion. Small. 2012 May 07;8(9):1299-313. doi: 10.1002/smll.201101786. Epub 2012 Mar 19. PMID: 22431156.
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Small. 2012 May 07;8(9):1299-313. doi: 10.1002/smll.201101786. Epub 2012 Mar 19.

Carbon nanotubes in the liquid phase: addressing the issue of dispersion.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)

Thathan Premkumar, Raffaele Mezzenga, Kurt E Geckeler

Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Applied Macromolecular Chemistry, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Buk-gu, Gwangju, South Korea.

PMID: 22431156 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201101786

Abstract

The inherent size and hollow geometry with extraordinary electronic and optical properties make carbon nanotubes (CNTs) promising building blocks for molecular or nanoscale devices. Unfortunately, their hydrophobic nature and their existence in the form of agglomerated and parallel bundles make this interesting material inadequately soluble or dispersible in most of the common solvents, which is crucial to their processing. Therefore, various ingenious techniques have been reported to disperse the CNTs in various solvents with different experimental conditions. However, by analyzing the published scientific research articles, it is evident that there is an important issue or misunderstanding between the term "dispersion" and "solubilization". As a result many researchers use the terms interchangeably, particularly when stating the interaction of CNTs with liquids, which causes confusion among the readers, students, and researchers. In this article, this fundamental issue is addressed in order to give basic insight to the researchers who are working with CNTs, as well as to the scientists who deal with nano-related research domains.

Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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