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A Study on Dispersion and Antibacterial Activity of Functionalizing Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes with Mixed Surfactant

  • Original Article
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Journal of Surfactants and Detergents

Abstract

The dispersibility in aqueous phase and antibacterial activity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) with mixed surfactant functionalization has been studied. The ratio of 3:7 between hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and octylphenol ethoxylate (TX100) showed the highest dispersing power for MWNT. The use of mixed surfactants formed stable MWNT dispersions at lower total surfactant concentration compared to their concentrations when used alone. UV–Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were employed to characterize the dispersion of MWNT in the aqueous phase. The result indicated that the surfactant molecules had been successfully adsorbed onto the surface of the MWNT. Bacterial toxicity assay showed that the mixed surfactant-functionalized MWNT had a strong antibacterial activity and concentration dependence to Staphylococcus aureus. Based on the consideration of the cost and environmental impact, the use of mixed surfactant (CTAB-TX100) should be more favorable for the stable dispersion of MWNT and the improvement of antibacterial activity than that of an individual surfactant. These observations suggested that the mixed surfactant-functionalized MWNT might be a promising antibacterial agent for removal and inactivation of biological contaminants in water treatment applications.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by “The Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (2014BS0504)” funded by the Technology Department of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and “The Scientific Research Foundation of the Education Ministry for Returned Chinese Scholars” funded by the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education. Additionally, the work was also funded by the Key Laboratory of Inorganic Coating Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Bai, Cunyang Wang, Jingjun Gao, Juan Su & Wen Ma

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  1. Yu Bai
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  2. Cunyang Wang
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  3. Jingjun Gao
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  4. Juan Su
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  5. Wen Ma
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Correspondence to Yu Bai.

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Bai, Y., Wang, C., Gao, J. et al. A Study on Dispersion and Antibacterial Activity of Functionalizing Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes with Mixed Surfactant. J Surfact Deterg 18, 957–964 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-015-1729-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-015-1729-z

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