Atomic Oxygen Functionalization of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (v-MWCNTs) are functionalizedusing atomic oxygen generated in a microwave plasma. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopydepth profile analysis shows that the plasma treatment effectively grafts oxygen exclusivelyat the v-MWCNT tips. Electron microscopy shows that neither the vertical alignment nor thestructure of v-MWCNTs were affected by the plasma treatment. Density functional calculationssuggest assignment of XPS C 1s peaks at 286.6 and 287.5 eV, to epoxy and carbonylfunctional groups, respectively.