Guy Mechrez

Literature review: conducting carbon nanotube/polyaniline nanocomposites

Abstract Polymeric nanocomposites consist of nanoparticles imbedded in organic polymers, comprising a new class of materials. The combination of conducting nanoparticles and conducting polymers, described as hybrid electrically conducting nanocomposites, is a new emerging field. These materials may exhibit unprecedented properties, attractive for both the industry and academia. There is a variety of applications for conductive nanocomposites, i.e., sensors, actuators, touch screens, etc. The combination of conductive polymers with conductive carbon nanotubes has already shown some synergistic properties. The goal of the present review is to summarize the literature reporting work done on combining polyaniline (PANI), an electrically conductive polymer, with carbon nanotubes (CNT) including the authors’ work.

Study of interactions between single-wall carbon nanotubes and surfactant using molecular simulations

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) exhibit interesting electrical and mechanical properties. However, the insolubility of CNT in either water or organic solvents, poses serious obstacles to their future applications. The main problems are strong van der Waals attractive interactions and CNT tendency to form bundles which are very difficult to disrupt. In this study, molecular dynamics and quantum mechanics simulations were conducted to investigate the interactions between a carbonaceous nanoparticle and surfactants. It was found that a benzoic ring in the surfactant molecule improves its binding to the graphitic surface. It was shown that a structure of two stacked graphene layers causes a significant straightening of the aliphatic tail of the surfactant molecule adsorbed on the outer graphene layer. Binding energy calculations showed the effect of surfactant structure and CNT diameter on their interaction intensity.