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Chemical lab
Chemical lab A chemical facility is present in our laboratory, where the mixtures and the solutions of the reagents are prepared. Both acid and basic treatments are perfomed to attain the functionalization and the purification of MWCNTs. Modification of the physical and chemical properties can be evaluated with several techniques. Nanotubes samples can be milled and subsequently soaked in acid solutions (such as HSO3Cl or HNO3/H2SO4 mixtures). The suspension is then filtered and washed with distilled water and characterization is performed. High temperature basic digestion also has been performed, preparing a solid mixture of an excess of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) pellets with 1.4g of MWCNTs and heating the mixture. It should be noticed that NaOH is extremely reactive at high temperatures, thus safety precautions have been taken during the modification process. Between the two main acid treatments that were tested, every characterization technique showed that the solution of nitric and sulphuric acid was the most effective treatment, at any temperature, in order to modify the CNT surface and induce the formation of functional groups.
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