One-step preparation of water-soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes

A novel one-step process using potassium persulfate (KPS) as oxidant is proposed in this paper to prepare water-soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The process without the need for organic solvents and acids is a low-cost, eco-friendly, facile method. Morphology observation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicates that the KPS-treated SWNTs were effectively debundled without obvious shortening in their length. The functional groups and thermal stability of the treated SWNTs were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). XPS results show that several functional groups such as potassium carboxylate (–COOK), carbonyl (–Cdouble bond; length as m-dashO) and hydroxyl (–C–OH) groups were formed on the surfaces of the SWNTs, while the TGA results reveal that the quantity of the functional groups can reach to approximately 20%.