Benzoxazine as a reactive noncovalent dispersant for carbon nanotubes

Abstract

The dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into individual particles or small bundles has remained a challenge and, thereby, has limited their applicability. Reactive noncovalent dispersion is an attractive option for changing the interfacial properties of nanotubes; the CNTs retain their graphene structure while the reactive functionalities of the dispersant moieties allow the dispersion of the CNTs within a thermosetting polymer matrix. Nevertheless, that approach typically requires multistep syntheses and expensive reactants. In this study, we used two commercially available benzoxazine monomers as reactive noncovalent dispersants of CNTs. We used transmission electronic microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis to study the morphologies and thermal properties, respectively, of the resulting benzoxazine-modified CNTs. The presence of benzoxazine coatings improved the compatibility of the CNTs with various organic solvents; in addition, the adsorbed benzoxazines retained their reactivity. Such benzoxazine-modified CNTs have potential application in the preparation of a variety of CNT/polymer composites.