Issue 12, 2010

Fabrication of organogels composed from carbon nanotubes through a supramolecular approach

Abstract

A new organogelator, N,N′-bis (octadecyl)-L-(1-pyrenebutyric acid)-glutamic diamide (LPG), was designed and its interaction with pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in the gel state was investigated. It was found that LPG can form organogels with various kinds of organic solvents. Although SWNT itself is difficult to disperse into organic solvents, it can be well dispersed into LPG gel. The gelation process and the properties of the resulting nanocomposites were found to be closely related to the pyrene group in the gelator. The addition of SWNTs significantly decreased the critical gelation concentration of LPG, depressed the sol to gel transition temperature and prolonged the time required to form a gel. Rheological investigations of LPG organogels showed that the flow of nanocomposites became more resistant to the applied stress upon the incorporation of SWNTs. This happened presumably via effective dispersion of SWNTs into the LPG organogels through π–π interaction between the surface of SWNTs and the pyrene group of LPG. The textures of the nanocomposites were altered from layer structure to intertwined fibers upon the incorporation of SWNTs, which also supported the effective mixing of SWNTs into LPG organogels.

Graphical abstract: Fabrication of organogels composed from carbon nanotubes through a supramolecular approach

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Mar 2010
Accepted
22 Jun 2010
First published
26 Aug 2010

New J. Chem., 2010,34, 2847-2852

Fabrication of organogels composed from carbon nanotubes through a supramolecular approach

Y. Tian, L. Zhang, P. Duan, F. Liu, B. Zhang, C. Liu and M. Liu, New J. Chem., 2010, 34, 2847 DOI: 10.1039/C0NJ00175A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements