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    Porous carbon nanotube/polyvinylidene fluoride composite material: Superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity and tunability of electrical conductivity

    Year: 2014

    Journal: POLYMER, Vol. 55, p 5616-5622, 20150722

    Authors: Yu, Yuanlie; Chen, Hua; Liu, Yun; Craig, Vincent S. J.; Li, Lu Hua; Chen, Ying; Tricoli, Antonio

    Organizations: Australian Natl Univ, Ctr Adv Microscopy, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Chem, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Phys & Engn, Dept Appl Math, Canberra, ACT 020, Australia; Deakin Univ, Inst Frontier Mat, Geelong, Vic 3216, Australia; Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Engn, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

    Porous carbon nanotube/polyvinylidene fluoride (CNT/PVDF) composite material can be fabricated via formation and freeze-drying of a gel. The field emission scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption and pore size distribution analysis reveal that the introduction of a small amount of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can effectively increase the surface roughness and porosity of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Contact angle measurements of water and oil indicate that the as-obtained composite material is superhydrophobic and superoleophilic. Further experiments demonstrate that these composite material can be efficiently used to separate/absorb the insoluble oil from oil polluted water as membrane/absorbent. Most importantly, the electrical conductivity of such porous CNT/PVDF composite material can be tuned by adjusting the mass ratio of CNT to PVDF without obviously changing the superhydrophobicity or superoleophilicity. The unique properties of the porous CNT/PVDF composite material make it a promising candidate for oil-polluted water treatment as well as water-repellent catalyst-supporting electrode material. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.