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Ultrasound-Assisted Swnts Dispersion: Effects Of Sonication Parameters And Solvent Properties, Qiaohuan Cheng, Sourabhi Debnath, Elizabeth Gregan, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Ultrasonication is widely used for preparing Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNT) dispersions in different solvent media and it has been shown to play a critical role in dispersing and debundling SWNTs. The strong shear force that can exfoliate the SWNT bundles during sonication comes from cavitation, which entails a process of bubble formation, growth, and collapse. The efficiency of the cavitation process is closely correlated to many solvent parameters, including vapor pressure, viscosity, and surface tension, as well as the sonication frequency, intensity, and time. In this study, SWNTs were dispersed in a range of organic solvents assisted by tip sonication. …