Effects of carbon nanomaterials on the aggregation of a bi-oxadiazole derivative (BOXD-T8) in DMF and its gel properties

Abstract

Two different carbon nanomaterials (CNMs), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene oxide (GO), were successfully incorporated into a bi-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivative (BOXD-T8) in DMF and gel. Molecules of BOXD-T8 self-assembled to H- and J-aggregates in DMF within moderate concentration, and the ratio of H- and J-aggregates could be manipulated simply by changing the concentration. Energy transferred from H-aggregates to outputting CNMs may have been involved due to the incorporation of CNMs. Furthermore, the incorporation of SWNTs is better to induce the aggregation of BOXD-T8, while GO is better to induce the formation of J-aggregation, which resulted in a lower critical gelation concentration (CGC) and different morphologies compared to those of the corresponding pure BOXD-T8 organogel. The SEM morphologies showed that SWNTs-containing hybrid xerogel consisted of spherical aggregates derived from the entanglement of fibers. In contrast, both graphene sheets and entangled fibers were observed for GO-containing hybrid xerogels. In addition, the composite gel showed improved mechanical properties due to the physical enhancement effects of the incorporated CNMs as rigid materials in the organogel network.