Microcapsule assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes from spray-dried hollow microspheres

概要

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Herein a novel approach to assemble single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) microcapsules using spray-drying and solvent exchange techniques is proposed. Spray drying a colloidal dispersion of SWCNTs containing a nonvolatile lactose species formed hollow-shell microspheres involving highly dispersed SWCNTs in the precipitated lactose shell. The spray-dried particles were then dispersed in absolute ethanol which is a poor solvent against lactose, and the ethanol was gradually exchanged with water through dialysis. The lactose and dispersing agent (sodium deoxycholate) were almost completely removed from the shell matrix under the solvent exchange, leaving SWCNTs non-covalently assembled in the hollow-shell microcapsule structures, held together by van der Waals interactions. Thus, the SWCNT microcapsules can be assembled using the spray-dried particles as “templates”.