Chemical functionalization by a fluorinated trichlorosilane of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

In this paper, the chemical functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes by a fluorinated trichlorosilane ((tridecafluoro- 1, 1,2,2-tetrahydrooctyl)trichlorosilane) is investigated. The chlorosilane has been shown to react with carboxylic acid moieties, created by an oxidative process on the nanotube walls, as well as with alcohol groups obtained by a reductive reaction of these previous oxidized nanotubes. The derivatizations were directly confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravitnetry analyses. Little difference in the functionalization was observed for the oxidized or reduced nanotubes. However, the amount of grafted silane seems to be slightly more important when the silanization is carried out with reduced nanotubes.