Cellulose Nanocrystals Mediated Dispersion of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) and Elaboration of SWNTs /Cellulose
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Cellulose Nanocrystals Mediated Dispersion of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) and Elaboration of SWNTs /Cellulose Nanocrystals multilayered Thin Films. Christophe Olivier1,2, Céline Moreau1, Hervé Bizot1, Bernard Cathala1, and Olivier Chauvet2 1
INRA-BIA, UMR1268 Biopolymères, Interactions et Assemblages, 44316 Nantes, France.
2
IMN, UMR 6502 CNRS Universite de Nantes, France
ABSTRACT Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) dispersions are obtained after ultrasonication in Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNs) colloidal suspensions and they are found to be stable during several months. Similarly to CNs suspensions, SWNTs/CNs dispersions are used to elaborate multilayered thin films by the layer by layer method. Characterizations of the growth pattern, Raman and optical properties of the films are investigated. The presence of isolated SWNTs in each bi-layer is attested by characteristic Raman and luminescence signals. These films may be interesting for sensing applications. INTRODUCTION The unique properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have open opportunities to elaborate a new generation of composites with optimized properties such as high mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and optical properties [1]. SWNTs have been utilized for many proof-of-concept applications. However some limitations remain and for instance, SWNTs are well known to be poorly solubilised in water rendering the elaboration of materials in aqueous environment difficult. To face this problem, the formation of complexes between SWNTs and biopolymers has been investigated. A large number of complexes have been already prepared with protein, peptides, nucleic acid or polysaccharides [2]. For the first time, in this study, we report the dispersion of SWNTs by cellulose nanocrystals and the building of multilayered thin films from these materials. Cellulose possesses outstanding physical properties such as high mechanical resistance and low density, and moreover benefits from tremendous natural abundance. Cellulose occurs in vivo in plant cell walls in the form of slender microfibrils, which are combined with other biomacromolecules to form supramolecular assemblies where they act as reinforcer. Cellulose nanocrystals, also referred as cellulose whiskers (CNs) may be obtained from sulphuric acid hydrolysis of microfibrils that yields negatively charged short single crystalline rods with a cross section between 3 and 20 nm and a length between 100 nm and several micrometers, depending on their biological origin [3].
In this paper, we report the use of CNs/SWNTs aqueous dispersions for the elaboration of multilayered thin films with the layer-by-layer (LBL) technique introduced by Decher et al [4]. This method consists in an alternative adsorption of polycations and polyanions. Depending on the interactions between the constituents, homogeneous films with high filler loading and various nanostructures may be prepared. It has already been shown that multilayered LBL films of CNs and Polyallylamine Hydrochloride (PAH) can be ob
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