Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) due to their unique physical and chemical properties have attracted considerable interest and provided an all new system not only for scientific researches and many nanoscale applications. However, to optimize the use of CNTs in various applications, it is necessary to attach functional groups to their surface. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the properties of SWCNTs can be dramatically changed by coating either with polymer, or inorganic species. These composites containing carbon nanotubes are expected to be useful for many applications such as chemical sensor, field emission display due to their extraordinary optical and electrical properties.
Titania has been known for its high photo catalytic properties and wide used for water and air purifications. In order to increase the photo catalytic efficiency, a great effort has been devoted including noble metal deposition or non-metal such as nitrogen and F- dopant. So taking the advantages of the high conductivity and chemically inert of SWCNT, it is expected that combination of CNTs and titania will enhance the photo catalytic efficiency of titania.
In this research, single walled carbon nanotube coated with F- doped titania have been successfully synthesized via a simple aqueous solution method. Compare to previous method coating with titania on CNTs, LPD method need no moisture-sensitive precursor or complex process and can be manipulate in low temperature. The samples have been characterized by SEM, TEM, Raman, IR spectroscopy,. It is demonstrated that SWCNTs were fully coated with titania layer. The photoconductivity of the TiO2/SWCNT core/shell structure under UV light has also been studied.
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