Impact of Non-Covalent Interactions on the Miscibility of Fullerenes in Polymers

Our recent studies have demonstrated that the incorporation of electron donor-acceptor (EDA) interactions in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) polymer nanocomposites dramatically improves the dispersion of the SWNT in the polymer matrix. These results indicate that the polymer connectivity and curvature of the nanoparticle play a crucial role in the realization of this improvement. As such, the importance of nanoparticle shape and curvature on the formation of the non- covalent interaction becomes an interesting question. To examine this problem, we have used UV- Vis spectroscopy and x- ray diffraction to quantify the miscibility limit of C60 fullerene with the incorporation of electron donor-acceptor interactions between the polymer and fullerene. The results indicate a distinct difference in the ability of EDA interactions to improve the dispersion of fullerenes relative to their impact on SWNT.