Metal decorated carbon nanotube aerogels from sodium polyacrylate crosslinking by divalent ions
Andres Fest,
Ferdinando Tristán,
Wendi Perez-Vigueras,
Gladis Judith Labrada-Delgado,
David Meneses-Rodríguez,
Sofía Magdalena Vega-Díaz
Affiliations
Andres Fest
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Avenida Tecnológico esq., A. García Cubas #600 Pt, Celaya, Guanajuato CP 38010, Mexico; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Ferdinando Tristán
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Avenida Tecnológico esq., A. García Cubas #600 Pt, Celaya, Guanajuato CP 38010, Mexico
Wendi Perez-Vigueras
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Avenida Tecnológico esq., A. García Cubas #600 Pt, Celaya, Guanajuato CP 38010, Mexico
Gladis Judith Labrada-Delgado
LINAN-IPICYT, Camino a la Presa San José 2055. Col. Lomas 4 sección, San Luis Potosí S.L.P. CP 78216, Mexico
David Meneses-Rodríguez
Cátedras-CONACYT CINVESTAV, Mérida Km 6, Carretera Antigua a Progreso, Cordemex, Mérida, Yucatán CP 97310, Mexico
Sofía Magdalena Vega-Díaz
Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Avenida Tecnológico esq., A. García Cubas #600 Pt, Celaya, Guanajuato CP 38010, Mexico; Corresponding author.
In this work sodium polyacrylate functionalized carbon nanotube aerogels were prepared from aqueous medium by simple ionic cross-linking using copper nitrate and calcium chloride as cation sources to obtain self-standing 3D structure. The complete procedure involves gelation of functionalized carbon nanotubes, freeze-drying and calcination to obtain the self-standing structures. These structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The self-standing structure is formed by entangled carbon nanotubes arranged in sheet-like assemblies. After calcination, the presence of the carboxylate contribution in C1s XPS spectra in the cross-linked materials, suggests its important role in thermal stability of the aerogels. This method also allowed obtaining metal particles embedded within the carbon nanotube network of the final material, which is a feature that could also contribute to the overall properties of the aerogel.
