Tuning the Dispersibility of Carbon Nanostructures from Organophilic to Hydrophilic: Towards the Preparation of New Multipurpose Carbon‐Based Hybrids

Abstract

The hydroxyphenyl derivatives of carbon nanostructures (graphene and carbon nanotubes) can be easily transformed into highly organophilic or hydrophilic derivatives by using the ionic interactions between the phenolic groups and oleylamine or tetramethylammonium hydroxide, respectively. The products were finely dispersed in homo-polymers or block co-polymers to create homogeneous carbon-based nanocomposites and were used as nanocarriers for the dispersion and protection of strongly hydrophobic compounds, such as large aromatic chromophores or anticancer drugs in aqueous solutions.

Effect of Steam‐Treatment Time on the Length and Structure of Single‐Walled and Double‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

“…[5c, 26] SEM is in general more accessible than AFM and TEM and provides accurate measurements for wide areas of the sample in an easy and fast manner.M oreover most SEM samples require minimal preparation.A major problem when dealingw ith CNTs, especially with SWCNTsa nd DWCNTs,i st hat these nanoscopic materials tend to aggregate into bundles due to p-p interactions. Severala pproaches are nowadays available to debundle, at least partially,t he nanotubes including the use of specific solvents [27] or by surface modification via both covalenta nd noncovalenta pproaches, [28] but the complete individualization of the nanotubes, desired for the determination of the length distribution remains ac hallenge. To wards this end we have developed ap rotocol to obtain individual CNTss pread on as upport that allows the quanti-tative SEM determination of the length distribution of the steam-shortened CNTs.…”

A Versatile Platform of 2‐(3,4‐Dihydroxyphenyl) Pyrrolidine Grafted Graphene for Preparation of Various Graphene‐derived Materials

“…[34,35] Recently,i tw as reported to be also applicable for the covalent functionalization of graphene. [24][25][26][27][28] In the presentc ontribution, it was furthers hown to be capable of realizing the functionalization degree of G-OH (f GÀOH )c ontrolled within aw ide range of 1D HPP unit per 70 to 670 carbon atoms by varyingt he concentration of starting graphene (C g ), reaction temperature (T), and times of repeated reaction( N ). The datas ummarized in Table 1s uggest that decreasing C g and/or increasing N can remarkably improve the f GÀOH of G-OH, while increasing T from 135 8Cto1 45 8Cexhibits some negative effect on the f GÀOH .…”

“…This makes it more chemically inactive than the latter two carbon allotropes. Actually,o nly very reactive species, such as free radicals, [15][16][17][18][19] nitrenes, [20] carbenes, [21,22] arynes, [23] or azomethine ylides, [24][25][26][27][28] can be covalently attached to the graphene framework under certain conditions. As ar esult, the extended p-electron conjugation of graphene is interrupted but in ar easonably controllable manner,r esulting in band-gap openinga nd processability improvement.…”

Derivatized Carbon Nanotubes for Gene Therapy in Mammalian and Plant Cells

“…The f-CNTs have an advantage over pristine nanotubes because of their positive interactions with the cells and better intracellular dispersibility. [30] In addition, f-CNTs act as a protective shield for the appended payload amid the intracellular voyage. [31] Functionalization of CNTs can improve the properties such as increased solubility in aqueous media, expanded scattering, and a lower propensity to form agglomerates.…”

“…The f‐CNTs have an advantage over pristine nanotubes because of their positive interactions with the cells and better intracellular dispersibility . In addition, f‐CNTs act as a protective shield for the appended payload amid the intracellular voyage .…”