Grafting of polymer chains on the surface of carbon nanotubes via nitroxide radical coupling reaction

Poly(butylene succinate)/MWCNTs nanocomposites with improved dispersion and with nanotubes embedded/immobilized into the polymer matrix were here prepared by an alternative "grafting to" method based on thenitroxide radical coupling reaction. Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) was grafted on the surface of TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy) modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) via a nitroxide radical coupling reaction. TEMPO functionalized MWCNTs (MWCNTs-g-TEMPO) were synthesized using the Cu(I)-catalyzed azide/alkyne click chemistry approach and the covalent bond of the nitroxide moieties onto the MWCNTs was confirmed via electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy.…