writer：S. Huang, T. X. Liu*, W. D. Zhang, W. C. Tjiu, C. B. He, X. H. Lu
keywords：carbon nanotubes, functionalization, polyamide 6, microwave radiation
source：期刊
specific source：Polymer International, 2010, 59(10), 1346-1349.
Issue time：2010年

Chemical reactions under microwave irradiation can be very efficient,with a significant shortening of reaction time. Few studies have reported the use of microwaves to functionalize carbon nanotubes. In the work reported, a new method of formulating functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) was developed by covalent grafting of polyamide 6 (PA6) chains onto the carbon nanotubes assisted by microwave irradiation. PA6 chainswere grafted onto acidified MWNTs through condensation reaction between the carboxylic groups of the MWNTs and the terminal amine groups of PA6 using microwave radiation heating. The functionalized carbon nanotubes (MWNT-g-PA6) were characterized systematically using infrared and Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TEM showed that the surface of theMWNTs was covered with a layer of PA6. TGA results indicated that the MWNT-g-PA6 contained about 47wt%of polymer. A novel, convenient and efficient functionalization approach is reported, involving covalently grafting PA6 chains onto MWNTs assisted by microwave irradiation.