Novel carbon nanotube composites by grafting reaction with water-compatible redox initiator system.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes were chemically functionalized with methacrylic acid and methacrylated bovine serum albumin by free radical grafting reaction to obtain novel nanocomposites. The nanotubes were synthesized by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition, and then the monomers were directly grafted by the action of hydrogen peroxide/ascorbic acid redox pair which allows operating in water-compatible and eco-friendly environment without the generation of any toxic reaction by-product. A multi-technique approach was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the grafting process employing Fourier transform infrared, Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analyses. Considering the high importance of methacrylate polymers and bovine serum albumin, the proposed nanocomposites could be of great applicability in biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]