Salting-in effect in organic dispersions of poly(3-hexyl thiophene)-carbon-nanotubes

Chem Commun (Camb). 2015 Apr 14;51(29):6343-5. doi: 10.1039/c5cc00802f.

Abstract

Addition of small concentrations of different inorganic salts to THF solutions of poly(3-hexyl thiophene), which contain non-dispersed powder of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWNTs), was found to "salt-in" the precipitated tubes leading to the formation of a stable dispersion of the MWNTs. This effect seems to result from a salt-induced conformational change of polymer chains adsorbed onto the CNTs, resulting in the onset of (entropic) steric repulsion among polymer-decorated chains.