Fluorinated carbon nanostructures: Synthesis, characterization and applications

FLUO 17

Valery N. Khabashesku, khval@rice.edu, Department of Chemistry, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005
Extensive studies have shown that fluorination is an efficient way to modify and control the surface properties of carbon nanotubes, polyfullerenes, nanodiamonds and nano-onions. For instance, fluorine functional groups on the sidewalls of carbon nanotubes assist effectively in unroping the nanotube bundles and in dispersion in alcohols and other polar solvents. Fluorinated nanodiamond and nano-onions also become soluble, showing a dramatic cluster size reduction (10 to 15 times) for fluoronanodiamonds. Weakness of the C-F bond and solubility of fluorinated nanocarbons provides an opportunity for the synthesis of a variety of nanocarbon derivatives by substitution of fluorine through wet chemistry methods. This approach has been applied to preparation of a series of amino, amide, hydroxyl, thiol, and carboxyl group terminated derivatives. Fluorinated carbon nanostructures, produced by direct fluorination, represent a new family of nanoscale fluorocarbon materials. They offer significant performance enhancements for polymer matrix nanocomposites, coatings and lubricants.