Journal of Advances in Nanomaterials

Download PDF (1289.7 KB) PP. 11 - 16 Pub. Date: June 1, 2019

DOI: 10.22606/jan.2019.42001

• Jacob S. Shedd
  Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
• Evan L. Floyd
  Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
• Jonghwa Oh
  Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
• Claudiu T. Lungu
  Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

In our previous work, buckypapers (BPs) were fabricated for use as sorbents for the air sampling of vapors. The fabrication methods used suspended arc discharge (AD) single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in a surfactant and water solution, then subsequently vacuum filtered the suspension to remove the supernatant. The BPs were then heat-treated to remove any residual surfactants remaining from fabrication, which was corroborated by gravimetric and surface analysis. The present work sought to validate these findings using Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) analysis of heat treated (HT) and non-heat treated (NHT) BPs. The effect of humidity on FTIR spectra was also considered to determine proper storage of BPs. This was assessed by storing BPs in three different environments over the course of four weeks and performing FTIR analyses weekly to determine changes due to humidity. The findings of FTIR analyses appear to indicate surfactants were removed in the heat treatment process, though water interference in the spectral data prevents conclusive evidence. It was also concluded that storing BPs in an airtight container of desiccant, under a dry nitrogen gas was the best way to prevent water retention overtime.

Buckypaper, SWNT, FTIR, photothermal desorption

[1] Lu, S. et al. Fabrication of single/multi-walled hybrid buckypaper composites and their enhancement of electromagnetic interference shielding performance. J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 49, (2016).

[2] Mustafa, I. et al. Fabrication of Freestanding Sheets of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (Buckypapers) for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries and Effects of Fabrication Variables on Electrochemical Performance. Electrochim. Acta 230, 222–235 (2017).

[3] Khan, Z. U., Kausar, A., Ullah, H., Badshah, A. & Khan, W. U. A review of graphene oxide, graphene buckypaper, and polymer/graphene composites: Properties and fabrication techniques. J. Plast. Film Sheeting 32, 336–379 (2016).

[4] Oh, J., Floyd, E. L., Parit, M., Davis, V. A. & Lungu, C. T. Heat Treatment of Buckypaper for Use in Volatile Organic Compounds Sampling. J. Nanomater. 2016, (2016).

[5] Oh, J., Floyd, E. L., Watson, T. C. & Lungu, C. T. Fabrication and adsorption characterization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) buckypaper (BP) for use in air samples. Anal. Methods 8, 4197–4203 (2016).

[6] Wu, Z. Transparent, Conductive Carbon Nanotube Films. Science (80-. ). 305, 1273–1276 (2004).

[7] Wang, J. et al. Removal of the Residual Surfactants in Transparent and Conductive Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Films.pdf. 17685–17690 (2009).

[8] Floyd, E. L., Sapag, K., Oh, J. & Lungu, C. T. Photothermal Desorption of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Coconut Shell- Activated Carbons Using a Continuous Light Source for Application in Air Sampling. Ann. Occup. Hyg. 58, 877–888 (2014).

[9] Itkis, M. E. et al. Purity evaluation of as-prepared single-walled carbon nanotube soot by use of solution-phase near-IR spectroscopy. Nano Lett. 3, 309–314 (2003).

[10] Sbai, K. et al. Infrared spectroscopy of single-walled carbon nanotubes. J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 12388–93 (2006).

[11] Bazula, P. A., Lu, A. H., Nitz, J. J. & Schüth, F. Surface and pore structure modification of ordered mesoporous carbons via a chemical oxidation approach. Microporous Mesoporous Mater. 108, 266–275 (2008).

[12] Spinato, C. et al. Different chemical strategies to aminate oxidised multi-walled carbon nanotubes for siRNA complexation and delivery. J. Mater. Chem. B 4, 431–441 (2016).

[13] Wepasnick, K. A. et al. Surface and structural characterization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes following different oxidative treatments. Carbon N. Y. 49, 24–36 (2011).

[14] Varga, M. et al. Diamond/carbon nanotube composites: Raman, FTIR and XPS spectroscopic studies. Carbon N. Y. 111, 54–61 (2017).

[15] Martinez-Rubi, Y. et al. Tailored SWCNT functionalization optimized for compatibility with epoxy matrices. Nanotechnology 23, (2012).

[16] National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. SDBSWeb.

[17] Ren, X., Chen, C., Nagatsu, M. & Wang, X. Carbon nanotubes as adsorbents in environmental pollution management: A review. Chem. Eng. J. 170, 395–410 (2011).