Effects of Two Purification Pretreatments on Electroless Copper Coating over Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

To achieve the reinforcement of copper matrix composite by single-walled carbon nanotubes, a three-step-refluxing purification of carbon nanotubes sample with HNO3-NaOH-HCl was proposed and demonstrated. A previously reported purification process using an electromagnetic stirring with H2O2/HCl mixture was also repeated. Then, the purified carbon nanotubes were coated with copper by the same electroless plating process. At the end, the effects of the method on carbon nanotubes themselves and on copper coating were determined by transmission electron microscope spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry. It was clearly confirmed that both of the two processes could remove most of iron catalyst particles and carbonaceous impurities without significant damage to carbon nanotubes. The thermal stability of the sample purified by H2O2/HCl treatment was slightly higher than that purified by HNO3-NaOH-HCl treatment. Nevertheless, the purification by HNO3-NaOH-HCl treatment was more effective for carboxyl functionalization on nanotubes than that by H2O2/HCl treatment. The Cu-coating on carbon nanotubes purified by both purification processes was complete, homogenous, and continuous. However, the Cu-coating on carbon nanotubes purified by H2O2/HCl was oxidized more seriously than those on carbon nanotubes purified by HNO3-NaOH-HCl treatment