Optically active substituted polyacetylene@carbon nanotube hybrids: Preparation, characterization and infrared emissivity property study

•Synthesis of optically active SPA copolymer derived from serine and phenylalanine.•Preparation and characterization of optically active SPA@MWCNTs nanohybrids.•Application study of the SPA@MWCNTs nanohybrids (ε=0.707) in lowering the infrared emissivity.

Optically active substituted polyacetylene@multiwalled carbon nanotubes (SPA@MWCNTs) nanohybrids were fabricated by wrapping helical SPA copolymers onto the surface of modified nanotubes through ester bonding linkage. SPA copolymer based on chiral phenylalanine and serine was pre-polymerized by a rhodium zwitterion catalyst in THF, and evidently proved to possess strong optical activity and adopt a predominately one-handed helical conformation. Various characterizations including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that the SPA had been covalently grafted onto the nanotubes without destroying their original graphite structure. The wrapped SPA was found to exhibit an enhancement in thermal stability and still maintained considerable optical activity after grafting. The infrared emissivity property of the nanohybrids at 8–14 μm was investigated in addition. The results indicated that the SPA@MWCNTs hybrid matrix could possess a much lower infrared emissivity value (ε=0.707) than raw MWCNTs, which might be due to synergistic effect of the unique helical conformation of optically active SPA and strengthened interfacial interaction between the organic polymers and inorganic nanoparticles.

Graphical abstractOptically active SPA@MWCNTs nanohybrids with low infrared emissivity.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide