Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chemistry, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia; Nanotechnology Research Centre, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia. Electronic address: azmi.mohamed@fsmt.upsi.edu.my
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia
  • 3 Nanotechnology Research Centre, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia
  • 4 Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Frontier Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8561, Japan
  • 6 Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
  • 7 School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom
J Colloid Interface Sci, 2015 Oct 1;455:179-87.
PMID: 26070188 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.05.054

Abstract

Here is presented a systematic study of the dispersibility of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in natural rubber latex (NR-latex) assisted by a series of single-, double-, and triple-sulfosuccinate anionic surfactants containing phenyl ring moieties. Optical polarising microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy have been performed to obtain the dispersion-level profiles of the MWCNTs in the nanocomposites. Interestingly, a triple-chain, phenyl-containing surfactant, namely sodium 1,5-dioxo-1,5-bis(3-phenylpropoxy)-3-((3-phenylpropoxy)carbonyl) pentane-2-sulfonate (TCPh), has a greater capacity the stabilisation of MWCNTs than a commercially available single-chain sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) surfactant. TCPh provides significant enhancements in the electrical conductivity of nanocomposites, up to ∼10(-2) S cm(-1), as measured by a four-point probe instrument. These results have allowed compilation of a road map for the design of surfactant architectures capable of providing the homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs required for the next generation of polymer-carbon-nanotube materials, specifically those used in aerospace technology.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.