Hetero diels-alder chemistry for the functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes with cyclopentadienyl end-capped polymer strands.

Nicolas Zydziak, Corinna M Preuss, Volker Winkler, Michael Bruns, Christof Hübner, Christopher Barner-Kowollik

Index: Macromol. Rapid Commun. 34(8) , 672-80, (2013)

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Abstract

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are pre-functionalized with a pyridinyl-based dithioester to undergo a hetero Diels-Alder (HDA) reaction with cyclopentadienyl end-capped poly(methyl)methacrylate (Mn = 2700 g mol(-1) , PDI = 1.14). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, elemental analysis (EA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) evidence the success of the grafting process. The estimated resulting grafting density (from XPS and EA) via the HDA reaction increases by a factor of more than two (0.0774 chains·nm(-2) via XPS) compared with typical values obtained via a direct cyclopentadiene driven Diels-Alder conjugation onto non-functional SWCNTs under similar conditions.Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.