Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles Decorated with Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (Au-MWCNTs) via Cysteaminium Chloride Functionalization

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) decorated CNTs are promising materials for photocatalytics and biosensors. However, the synthesis of AuNPs chemically linked to the walls of MWCNTs is challenging and toxic products such as thionylchloride (SOCl₂) or [1-ethyl-3(dimethyl-amino) propyl] carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDAC) need to be used. This work reports a new approach to prepare gold nanoparticles decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by using cysteaminium chloride via the formation of a Zwitterionic acide-base bond. The grafting process consists of 3 mains steps: oxidation, thiolation and decoration of AuNPs on the surface of MWCNTs. The completion of each step has been verified out by both spectroscopic (Raman, UV-Vis, FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Miscroscopy (SEM). The chemical bonding states of synthesized products have been proven by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).