Dispersibility of Multiwall Carbon Nanotube in a Polyanionic Surfactant Based on UV-Vis Analysis

Yuyun Irmawati; Deni Shidqi Khaerudini; Indriyati Indriyati; Mardiyati Mardiyati; Rike Yudianti

doi:10.22146/ijc.45567

Dispersibility of Multiwall Carbon Nanotube in a Polyanionic Surfactant Based on UV-Vis Analysis

https://doi.org/10.22146/ijc.45567

Yuyun Irmawati^(1*), Deni Shidqi Khaerudini⁽²⁾, Indriyati Indriyati⁽³⁾, Mardiyati Mardiyati⁽⁴⁾, Rike Yudianti⁽⁵⁾

(1) Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Kawasan Puspiptek Serpong, Tangerang Selatan 15314, Indonesia
(2) Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Kawasan Puspiptek Serpong, Tangerang Selatan 15314, Indonesia
(3) Research Unit for Clean Technology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jl. Sangkuriang, Kampus LIPI, Bandung 40135, Indonesia
(4) Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology, Jl. Ganesha No. 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
(5) Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Kawasan Puspiptek Serpong, Tangerang Selatan 15314, Indonesia
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

The degree of carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion in an ink solution plays a critical role in the performance of CNT based devices. This is a challenging task in the CNT utilization due to strong van der Waals interaction affecting the CNT bundles. A good dispersion degree can be achieved, for instance, by lowering the van der Waals interaction with the strategy of non-covalent interaction between polyanionic surfactant and the CNT surface. Herein, a simple and quick technique to disperse multiwall CNT (MWCNT) by using a polyanionic dispersant, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), is reported. The dispersion degree of MWCNT in aqueous solution during the sonication process was studied using UV-Vis analysis. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) was also applied to further investigate the interaction between CMC and MWCNT. The result shows that the maximum dispersion of MWCNT was achieved with a maximum absorbance in the UV-Vis spectra. Higher CMC concentration resulted in a higher viscosity of the solution, thus it increased the sonication duration in obtaining the maximum dispersion. By varying the MWCNT concentration at a constant CMC concentration of 0.25 wt.%, a homogenous MWCNT dispersion was obtained up to 0.2 wt.%. The encapsulation of a thin CMC layer on the MWCNT surface with a thickness of 1.5–3 nm was evidenced by TEM micrograph analysis.

Keywords

MWCNT; diperpersion; carboxymethyl cellulose; UV-Vis spectroscopy

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/ijc.45567