Ionic Liquids for Soft Functional Materials with Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

A serendipitous finding that ionic liquids gel with carbon nanotubes has opened a new possibility of ionic liquids as modifiers for carbon nanotubes. Upon being ground into ionic liquids, carbon nanotube bundles are untangled, and the resultant fine bundles form a network structure. This is due to the possible specific interaction between the imidazolium ion component and the pi-electronic nanotube surface. The resultant gelatinous materials, consisting of highly electroconductive nanowires and fluid electrolytes, can be utilized for a wide variety of electrochemical applications, such as sensors, capacitors, and actuators. Ionic liquids allow for noncovalent and covalent modifications of carbon nanotubes and fabrication of polymer composites with enhanced physical properties. The processing of carbon nanotubes with ionic liquids is not accompanied by the disruption of the pi-conjugated nanotube structure and does not require solvents; therefore it can readily be scaled up. This article focuses on new aspects of ionic liquids for designer soft materials based on carbon nanotubes.

Effect of ionic liquids on the dispersion of zinc oxide and silica nanoparticles, vulcanisation behaviour and properties of NBR composites

“…Our previous studies showed that surfactants and ionic liquids, such as alkylimidazolium salts, effectively improved the dispersion of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the elastomer [6]. Fukushima and Aida [8] reported that imidazolium ionic liquids can be used to disperse single-walled carbon nanotubes in soft composite materials. The ability of ionic liquids to functionalise and improve the dispersion of carbon nanotubes has been intensively studied [9,10] also in diene elastomers [11].…”

1H and13C NMR study of phase transition and molecular motion in ionic liquids forming lyotropic liquid-crystalline ionogels

“…Technological developments of so called 'smart' materials are continuously boosting over the whole past decade [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Materials are classified as 'smart' if they possess an intrinsic ability to sense and definitely to respond to various external stimuli in a predictable way ( [2] and references therein).…”

“…The research of these features open new technological vista for various sensors, molecular machines, switches, controllers, etc. Ionic liquids (ILs), or sometimes specifying more precisely -room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), which, according to definition, are compounds consisting entirely of ions, but in contrast to 'traditional' salts they are liquids already at, or close to, room temperature [8,9], are widely and successfully applied creating multifunctional materials and compositions [3][4][5][6][7]. Selecting combinations of anionic and cationic subsystems one can alter defined physical and chemical properties of RTILs getting possibilities to sense and to control various molecular processes in these media.…”

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“…Imidazoliumbased ILs could support the exfoliation of CNT bundles in the process leading tostable gel-like products. [77,78] The same approach has been employedfor IL monomers in order to synthesize solid composites or polymeric gels. Moreover, CNT dispersions stabilized by PILs could be reversibly transferred from water to organic solvents.…”