Underwater Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube/Coacervate Composites

Tan-Phat Huynh*, Nina Kølln Wittig, Amanda Andersen, Fiona Linnea Bach-Gansmo, Henrik Birkedal*

*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift/Konferencebidrag i tidsskrift /Bidrag til avisTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

Abstract

Soft conductive materials are of interest for a wide range of applications, but their syntheses have remained difficult. Herein, we present a convenient route for underwater fabrication of a composite made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and mussel-inspired complex coacervates. The key to success of this method is that CNTs were solubilized very effectively in protocoacervates, which are high-concentration solutions of polyelectrolytes at a pH where only one of them is charged, thereby impeding coacervate formation. Composite materials were formed by the simple injection of CNT-dispersed protocoacervate solutions into water under ambient conditions. The method is simple, fast, and ecofriendly, and composites of CNT-complex coacervate in the form of films or bulk materials were obtained. The composites demonstrated electrical conductivity and tunable mechanical properties, which depended on the concentration of polyelectrolytes and the CNT:protocoacervate ratio. Hence, the composites can be manipulated to attain diverse properties, for examples, tunable reduced modulus (15 to 32 GPa) and hardness (0.3 to 0.7

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftLangmuir
Vol/bind40
Nummer25
Sider (fra-til)13010-13016
Antal sider7
ISSN0743-7463
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 25 jun. 2024

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