ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Multi-wall carbon nanotubes with nitrogen-containing carbon coating

Elena Tomšík, Zuzana Morávková, Jaroslav Stejskal, Miroslava Trchová, Petr Šálek, Jana Kovářová, Josef Zemek, Miroslav Cieslar, and Jan Prokeš

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 162 06, Prague 6, Czech Republic

E-mail: tomsik@imc.cas.cz

Abstract: Polyaniline coating was deposited on the surface of multi-wall carbon nanotubes of Russian and Taiwanese origin in situ during the polymerization of aniline. The deposited polyaniline film was subsequently carbonized under an inert atmosphere at various temperatures to produce coaxial coating of the carbon nanotubes with nitrogen-containing carbon. The new materials were investigated by infrared and Raman spectroscopies, which demonstrated the conversion of the polyaniline coating to a carbonized structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy proved that the carbonized overlayer contains nitrogen atoms in various covalent bonding states. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the coaxial structure of the composites. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method was used to estimate the specific surface area, the highest being 272 m² g⁻¹. The conductivity of 0.9–16 S cm⁻¹ was measured by the four-point method, and it was only a little affected by the carbonization of the polyaniline coating.

Keywords: polyaniline coating – carbonization – multi-wall carbon nanotubes – supercapacitors

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-013-0348-2

Chemical Papers 67 (8) 1054–1065 (2013)