Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes for Detection of Volatile Organic Pollutant

Ever since carbon nanotubes were discovered, it has attracted researchers from all corners due to the fascinating characteristics they offer. Detection of environmental pollutants is one of the prominent sectors where carbon nanotubes have been extensively applied. Pristine carbon nanotubes attracted sincere attention at the initial phase; however, the inherent shortcomings as a chemical sensor were immediately recognized. Thereafter, improvement of selective and sensitive behavior of carbon nanotubes toward varied class of analytes has remained a core area of carbon nanotube-based research. Tailoring/covering sidewalls of carbon nanotubes with different functionalizing entities has shown remarkable outcomes in improving behavior of nanotube sensors in various domains. Organic conducting polymers, macrocyclic compounds, metal organic frameworks, metal nanoparticles, etc. have been extensively reported to functionalize carbon nanotube surface. This chapter discusses porphyrin-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes that are found to be selective toward volatile organic compounds, and most importantly, good selectivity and sensitivity have been observed for selected group of analytes.