Water-soluble SWCNTs from sulfonation of nanotube-bound polystyrene

Polystyrene functionalized SWCNTs, prepared by copper(I) catalyzed click coupling of alkyne-decorated SWCNTs with well-defined, azide-terminated polystyrene, were transformed to water-soluble structures through sulfonation of the grafted polystyrene chains. The degree of polystyrene sulfonation was varied from 20 to 34mol%, and was found to be directly proportional to the aqueous solubility of the material. The resulting sulfonated …