AVS 51st International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Tuesday Sessions
       Session NS-TuM

Paper NS-TuM7
Wetting of Individual Carbon Nanotubes with Organic Liquids

Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 10:20 am, Room 213D

Session: Nanotube Processing and Composite Materials
Presenter: A.H. Barber, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Authors: A.H. Barber, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
S.R. Cohen, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
H.D. Wagner, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Correspondent: Click to Email
Carbon nanotubes show promise as reinforcements in polymer composites. For effective reinforcement, good adhesion between the nanotube and polymer is necessary. Adhesion at a polymer-nanotube interface involves many different types of bonding mechanisms, with wetting of fibers by the liquid polymer regarded as a necessary, but not a sufficient prerequisite for adhesion. Here we present a new experimental method to investigate the wetting behavior of single carbon nanotubes under ambient conditions. Carbon nanotubes, bound to probe tips in a scanning probe microscope are controllably dipped into various organic probe liquids. The changes in force due to the wetting of single carbon nanotubes thus can be accurately measured, giving insights on the interaction between liquid and nanotube. In particular, liquid-carbon nanotube contact angles are measured, which can be interpreted with respect to the nanotube surface characteristics. Using an Owens and Wendt analysis, the polar and dispersive components of the interaction can be separated. Our results show that the surface of the carbon nanotube displays hydrophilic behavior, in contrast to hydrophobic graphite surfaces. This project was supported by the (CNT) Thematic European network on 'Carbon Nanotubes for Future Industrial Composites' (EU), the Minerva Foundation, the G. M. J. Schmidt Minerva Centre of Supramolecular Architectures, and by the Israeli Academy of Science. H.D. Wagner is the recipient of the Livio Norzi Professorial Chair.