Chemisorption of acetone on carbon nanotubes

Temperature-programmed desorption experiments show that acetone chemisorbs on nanotubes while physisorption occurs on graphite. Computed high binding energies for chemisorption using hybrid quantum mechanical and semiempirical calculations are in good agreement with the experimental thermal desorption data. The strong chemical interactions between acetone and the nanotube surface are established as being due to the effects of curvature and topological defects.