Browsing by Author "Autreto, Pedro A.S."

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    Ambient solid-state mechano-chemical reactions between functionalized carbon nanotubes
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2015) Kabbani, Mohamad A.; Tiwary, Chandra Sekhar; Autreto, Pedro A.S.; Brunetto, Gustavo; Som, Anirban; Krishnadas, K.R.; Ozden, Sehmus; Hackenberg, Ken P.; Gong, Yongi; Galvao, Douglas S.; Vajtai, Robert; Kabbani, Ahmad T.; Pradeep, Thalappil; Ajayan, Pulickel M.
    Carbon nanotubes can be chemically modified by attaching various functionalities to their surfaces, although harsh chemical treatments can lead to their break-up into graphene nanostructures. On the other hand, direct coupling between functionalities bound on individual nanotubes could lead to, as yet unexplored, spontaneous chemical reactions. Here we report an ambient mechano-chemical reaction between two varieties of nanotubes, carrying predominantly carboxyl and hydroxyl functionalities, respectively, facilitated by simple mechanical grinding of the reactants. The purely solid-state reaction between the chemically differentiated nanotube species produces condensation products and unzipping of nanotubes due to local energy release, as confirmed by spectroscopic measurements, thermal analysis and molecular dynamic simulations.
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    Bacteria as Bio-Template for 3D Carbon Nanotube Architectures
    (Springer Nature, 2017) Ozden, Sehmus; Macwan, Isaac G.; Owuor, Peter S.; Kosolwattana, Suppanat; Autreto, Pedro A.S.; Silwal, Sushila; Vajtai, Robert; Tiwary, Chandra S.; Mohite, Aditya D.; Patra, Prabir K.; Ajayan, Pulickel M.
    It is one of the most important needs to develop renewable, scalable and multifunctional methods for the fabrication of 3D carbon architectures. Even though a lot of methods have been developed to create porous and mechanically stable 3D scaffolds, the fabrication and control over the synthesis of such architectures still remain a challenge. Here, we used Magnetospirillum magneticum (AMB-1) bacteria as a bio-template to fabricate light-weight 3D solid structure of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with interconnected porosity. The resulting porous scaffold showed good mechanical stability and large surface area because of the excellent pore interconnection and high porosity. Steered molecular dynamics simulations were used to quantify the interactions between nanotubes and AMB-1 via the cell surface protein MSP-1 and flagellin. The 3D CNTs-AMB1 nanocomposite scaffold is further demonstrated as a potential substrate for electrodes in supercapacitor applications.