Metal decorated carbon nanotube aerogels from sodium polyacrylate crosslinking by divalent ions

Abstract

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.