Hydrophilic Nanotube Supported Graphene–Water Dispersible Carbon Superstructure with Excellent Conductivity

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Abstract
In this work, it is shown that the hydrophilic functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNs) can stabilize a large amount of pristine graphene nanosheets in pure water without the assistance of surfactants, ionic liquids, or hydrophilic polymers. Role of stabilizer is conveyed by highly hydrophilic carbon nanotubes, functionalized by dihydroxy phenyl groups, affording a stable dispersion at concentrations as high as 15 mg mL−1. Such multidimensional (2D/1D) graphene/MWCN hybrid is found to be dispersible also in other polar organic solvents such as ethanol, isopropanol, N,N‐dimethylformamide, ethylene glycol, and their mixtures. High‐resolution transmission microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) including a liquid mode AFM manifest several types of interaction including trapping of multiwalled carbon nanotubes between the graphene sheets or the modification of graphene edges. Molecular dynamic simulations show that formation of an assembly is kinetically controlled. Importantly, the hybrid can be deposited on the paper by drop casting or dispersed in water‐soluble polymers resulting in record values of electrical conductivity (sheet resistance up to Rs ≈ 25 Ω sq−1 for free hybrid material and Rs ≈ 1300 Ω sq−1 for a polyvinilalcohol/hybrid composite film). Thus, these novel water dispersible carbon superstructures reveal a high application potential as conductive inks for inkjet printing or as highly conductive polymers.
Funding Information
  • Agency of the Czech Republic (P208/12/G016)
  • European Union
  • Greek national funds

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