The Molecular and Macromolecular Level of Carbon Nanotube Modification Via Diazonium Chemistry: Emphasis on the 2010s Years

The present review focusses on the recent progress in the reductive grafting of diazotized big molecules and polymers on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). We briefly summarize the essentials on diazonium synthesis and discuss the CNT physical properties. The different routes for CNT covalent functionalization through diazonium salt interface chemistry are reviewed. The main analytical and spectroscopic techniques used to track carbon nanotube surface modification were cited as well as their advantages and limitations in the light of the information they provide. In this review, the emphasis is on big molecules such as dyes, crown ether, calixarene, cyclodextrin, fullerene and Ru-complex, and biomolecules such as biotin, proteins, and antibodies. The attachment of synthetic polymers to CNT via diazonium chemistry, or by preparing CNT-Polymer nanocomposites through: (1) in situ polymerization (controlled radical polymerization and click chemistry). (2) Oxidative polymerization of conjugated monomers. (3) Grafting onto method by Huisgen 1,3-cycloaddition click reaction and epoxy ring-opening were summarized and discussed. Throughout this review, we reported the recent advances using diazonium salt chemistry in numerous research areas (biomedicine, environment, energy conversion, sensors and actuators, structural composites,…).