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Enhancement of the solubility, thermal stability, and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes functionalized with MEH-PPV: a combined experimental and computational study

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Abstract

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) functionalized with poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MWCNT-f-MEH-PPV) nanocomposites were successfully prepared by employing a “grafting from” approach. The content of the functionalizing MEH-PPV in the composites was observed as 76 wt.%. Compared with pristine MWCNTs (p-MWCNT), the aqueous solubility and thermal stability of the former are significantly enhanced. The effect of covalently and non-covalently functionalized nanotubes on dye-sensitized solar cell performance was also studied. Solar cells were successfully fabricated from isolated MEH-PPV, p-MWCNT/MEH-PPV, and MWCNT-f-MEH-PPV/MEH-PPV counter electrodes. The devices based on a MWCNT-f-MEH-PPV/MEH-PPV counter electrode demonstrated the best photovoltaic performance as observed by higher J SC, V OC, and fill factor (FF) values. The experimental phenomena can be explained by quantum-chemical calculations: Charge transfer from MEH-PPV oligomers to nanotubes is greater when covalently functionalized compared with non-covalently functionalized. This suggests that the improvement in the photovoltaic parameters of the cells containing covalently functionalized nanotubes results not only from the higher concentration present in the nanotube films of the counter electrode, but also from the greater electron delocalization between the oligomers and nanotubes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) through a Senior Research Scholar (RTA5380010). P.P. is grateful to the Development and Promotion of Science and Technology Talents (DPST) project for a scholarship and S.S. to the Thailand Research Fund (MRG5480273) for financial support. We also acknowledge the Laboratory for Computational and Applied Chemistry (LCAC) at Kasetsart University (KU), Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute (KURDI), Large Simulations Research Laboratory (NECTEC), and National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC) for software and research facilities. A part of this work was conducted under projects of the National Research University (NRU) and National Center of Excellence for Petroleum, Petrochemicals, and Advanced Materials (NCEPPAM) promoted by the Commission on Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Thailand. We are grateful to Prof. Toshi Nagata (Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki, Japan) for his permission to use the cyclic voltammetry (CV) instrument and valuable discussion on the CV results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand

    Pongthep Prajongtat, Songwut Suramitr, Matthew Paul Gleeson, Koichiro Mitsuke & Supa Hannongbua

  2. Center of Nanotechnology KU, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand

    Pongthep Prajongtat, Songwut Suramitr & Supa Hannongbua

  3. Institute for Molecular Science, Myodaiji, Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan

    Koichiro Mitsuke

  4. Department of Chemistry, Josai University, Keyakidai, Sakado, 350-0295, Japan

    Koichiro Mitsuke

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  1. Pongthep Prajongtat
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  2. Songwut Suramitr
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  3. Matthew Paul Gleeson
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  4. Koichiro Mitsuke
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  5. Supa Hannongbua
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Correspondence to Supa Hannongbua.

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Prajongtat, P., Suramitr, S., Gleeson, M.P. et al. Enhancement of the solubility, thermal stability, and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes functionalized with MEH-PPV: a combined experimental and computational study. Monatsh Chem 144, 925–935 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00706-013-0963-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00706-013-0963-1

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