• Encinas, Armando
• Quintana, Mildred
• Micoli, Alessandra
• Prato, Maurizio
• Araujopalomo, Elsie
• Turco, Antonio

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Nucleoside‐functionalized multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (<jats:bold>N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold>) were synthesized and characterized. A self‐organization process using hydrogen bonding interactions was then used for the fabrication of self‐assembled <jats:bold>N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold> films free of stabilizing agents, polymers, or surfactants. Membranes were produced by using a simple water‐dispersion‐based vacuum‐filtration method. Hydrogen‐bond recognition was confirmed by analysis with IR spectroscopy and TEM images. Restoration of the electronic conduction properties in the <jats:bold>N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold> membranes was performed by removing the organic portion by thermal treatment under an argon atmosphere to give <jats:bold>d‐N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold>. Electrical conductivity and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements confirmed the efficiency of the annealing process. Finally, oxidative biodegradation of the films <jats:bold>N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold> and <jats:bold>d‐N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold> was performed by using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and low concentrations of H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>. Our results confirm that functional groups play an important role in the biodegradation of CNT by HRP: <jats:bold>N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold> films were completely biodegraded, whereas for <jats:bold>d‐N‐MWCNTs</jats:bold> films no degradation was observed, showing that the pristine CNT undergoes minimal enzyme‐catalyzed oxidation This novel methodology offers a straightforward supramolecular strategy for the construction of conductive and biodegradable carbon nanotube films.</jats:p>

Topics

• dispersion
• polymer
• Carbon
• nanotube
• Hydrogen
• transmission electron microscopy
• thermogravimetry
• annealing
• electrical conductivity
• surfactant
• infrared spectroscopy
• gravimetric analysis