Preparation and characterisation of single-walled carbon nanotubes functionalised with amines

The amines octadecylamine, 2-aminoanthracene, 1-H,1-H-pentadecafluorooctylamine, 4-perfluorooctylaniline and 2,4-bis(perfluorooctyl)aniline, have been reacted with chemically modified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The chemical modification consisted on a thermal treatment in air of arc discharge-grown SWCNTs with an optional purification with HNO3. The selected amines have been allowed to interact with the obtained materials and with those resulting from an additional treatment with thionyl chloride. The resulting materials were characterised with different spectroscopic techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy complemented with the thermogravimetric analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The chemically modified SWCNTs exhibit different solubility properties depending on the amines and the solvents used. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.