Nonuniform functional group distribution of carbon nanotubes studied by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry imaging in SEM

Functionalization is a key technique to improving the dispersibility of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in solvents and polymer matrices for producing versatile CNT-based materials. Therefore, a robust and efficient characterization method is required to confirm that the functionalization on the CNT surface...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanoscale 2019-11, Vol.11 (44), p.21487-21492
Main Authors: Nakajima, Hideaki, Morimoto, Takahiro, Zhou, Ying, Kobashi, Kazufumi, Ata, Seisuke, Yamada, Takeo, Okazaki, Toshiya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dispersion
Electron microscopes
Energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy
Functional groups
Image detection
Imaging techniques
Light elements
Microscopes
Organic chemistry
Scanning electron microscopy
Scientific imaging
Single wall carbon nanotubes
Spatial distribution
Spatial resolution
Spectrometry
X ray imagery
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Functionalization is a key technique to improving the dispersibility of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in solvents and polymer matrices for producing versatile CNT-based materials. Therefore, a robust and efficient characterization method is required to confirm that the functionalization on the CNT surface is spatially uniform. Although several imaging techniques for transmission electron microscopes can characterize the spatial localization of elements chemically bound to an isolated CNT surface, they are unsuitable for examinations on a practical scale because of their limited scanning area. Here, we present high spatially resolved energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) imaging of functionalized single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Highly sensitive EDS detection and drift-free operation enables our technique to image the light elements of SWCNTs with sufficient spatial resolution (
ISSN:2040-3364
2040-3372
DOI:10.1039/c9nr07619k