Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Coated CNT

Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Coated CNT List

Since carbon nanotubes were firstly reported in 1991, they have been widely studied. With the excellent mechanical, electrical, thermal and hydrogen storage properties, carbon nanotubes have been applied in many fields. As nanomaterials, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have surface effect, quantum size effect, small size effect and macro quantum tunneling effect, which endows them with unique properties of electricity, magnetism, light and catalysis. Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles coated CNT can be obtained by coating metal and metal oxide nanoparticle on the surface of CNT. Due to synergy effects, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles coated CNT have various properties that are widely applied in many fields.

Figure 1. An example of metal oxide nanoparticles coated CNT.

Applications:

• Catalyst field: Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles coated CNT can be used as catalyst for many types of reactions. In the composition, the two components of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles coated CNT play different roles. Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have catalytic properties and play the role of catalytic active substances. CNT have appropriate pore size distribution, stable structure, unique morphology and excellent surface properties, thus acting as catalyst carriers. In the reaction process, the reactants can be effectively adsorbed on the surface of CNT by van der Waals force, which is conducive to the effective contact between catalytic active substances and reactants. Therefore, the catalytic efficiency of catalysts can be improved.

Figure 2. An example of metal nanoparticles coated CNT applied in catalyst field.

• Sensors field: Sensors designed based on metal and metal oxide coated CNT have important applications in environmental monitoring, chemical process control, agriculture and biomedicine. For example, metal and metal oxide coated CNT has high sensitivity to many toxic or flammable gases, such as H₂, CH₄, H₂S and CO₂, which can be designed as gas sensors.
• Antibacterial materials field: Many metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have antibacterial properties. However, the disadvantages of poor stability and easy aggregation will weaken their antibacterial ability. Therefore, selecting an appropriate carrier to load the metal and metal oxide nanoparticle is crucial. Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles can be coated in the CNT to form metal and metal nanoparticles coated CNT, which will greatly improve the antibacterial performance.
• The others: In addition, metal and metal oxide coated CNT are widely applied in many other fields, such as composite materials, fuel cells and the others. For example, CNT is commonly used as a reinforcement for composites due to the excellent mechanical properties. However, the wettability between CNT and matrix and the dispersion of CNT in matrix are the difficulties in this field. By coating metal and metal oxide nanoparticles on the surface of CNT, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles coated CNT can be prepared, which can greatly enhance the interface cohesion of the composite as well as the hardness, conductivity and bending strength of the composite.

Classification:

According to the type of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles coated on the CNT surface, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles coated CNT can be divided into copper coated CNT, silver coated CNT, gold coated CNT, nickel coated CNT, palladium coated CNT, platinum coated CNT, titanium coated CNT and the others.

References

1. Wang N, Jiang T , Yang Y, et al. Facile coating carbon nanotubes with metal oxide nanoparticles of controlled size[J]. Chemical Physics Letters, 2014, 605-606:35-37.
2. Tavakkoli M, Kallio T, Reynaud O, et al. Maghemite nanoparticles decorated on carbon nanotubes as efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2016:10.1039.