Covalent Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes using Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Among various polymerization methods to graft polymers on the surface of CNTs, Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) has several advantages, such as a wide range of polymerizable monomers and superb control in molecular structure and weights. Several research groups including us have showed that ATRP is an efficient and versatile method to modify the surface of CNTs. Here, two independent approaches for the covalent attachment of polymers based on ATRP graft-from and graft-onto methods will be discussed.