Toward the development of versatile functionalized carbon nanotubes

Surface modification of carbon nanotubes (CNT) with polymers is a general and effective strategy to improve the performance of CNTs for applications. In this work, a facile strategy to synthesize hydrophobic and hydrophilic CNT by mussel inspired chemistry and Single-Electron Transfer Living Radical Polymerization (SET-LRP) was developed for the first time. The successful synthesis of these CNT-polymer composites was confirmed by a series of characterization techniques including transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectra. These CNT exhibited obviously enhanced dispersibility in water and different organic solvents after they were surface functionalized with hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers. The synthetic strategy is convenient, versatile and environmentally friendly and can be extended for fabrication of many other polymer nanocomposites. Therefore, the method developed in the present work might open a new route to fabricate functional CNT-polymer composites for different applications.