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Simultaneous purification and functionalization of carbon nanotubes using chlorination

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Abstract

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) obtained using ethylene as a carbon source and nanocrystalline iron as a catalyst were used as the initial material. The functionalization of MWCNTs was carried out using chlorine in the liquid and gas phase. In the second case, the reaction was conducted in the temperature range from 50 to 450 °C for 2 h. The presence of chlorine species on the surface of chlorinated samples was confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A quantitative analysis of metal impurity content was validated by means of thermogravimetric analysis. Better results of metal removal were achieved when the chlorination process was conducted in the gas phase and the ratio of metal in samples amounted from 2.3% to 5.1%.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. E. Borowiak—Palén (West Pomeranian University of Technology, Institute of Chemical and Environment Engineering) for the studies using High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy. This research was carried out under the funding of Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (NN 205 112 135).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, 70-310, Szczecin, Poland

    Iwona Pełech, Urszula Narkiewicz & Dariusz Moszyński

  2. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Organic Chemical Technology, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, 70-310, Szczecin, Poland

    Robert Pełech

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  1. Iwona Pełech
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  2. Urszula Narkiewicz
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Correspondence to Iwona Pełech.

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Pełech, I., Narkiewicz, U., Moszyński, D. et al. Simultaneous purification and functionalization of carbon nanotubes using chlorination. Journal of Materials Research 27, 2368–2374 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.243

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