Strategies for Nanostructuring Surfaces

In order to overcome this drawback, there are two main approaches for the surface modification of carbon nanostructures that reoccur in the literature. The first one is covalent functionalization, mainly by chemical bonding of functional groups and the second one is noncovalent functionalization, mainly by physical interactions with other molecules or particles. Both strategies have been used to provide different physical and chemical properties to the carbon nanostructures. Those that will be presented here are only a few examples of the modifications that can be achieved in carbon nanostructure surfaces and composite fabrication. 

Up to now, most efforts have been directed towards the preparation of uniformly sized spherical MIP particles in the micrometre range. This is the obvious consequence of the need for this kind of materials as fillers for high-performance chromatographic columns, capillaries for electrophoresis, cartridges for solid-phase extractions and other applications requiring selective stationary phases. Additionally though, strategies for the preparation of other more sophisticated MIP forms, such as membranes, (nano)monoliths, films, micro- and nanostructured surfaces etc. 

Surface science has been one of the first beneficiaries of self-assembled nanostructures (in the form of SAMs). Self-assembly is a very general strategy for forming molecularly tailored interfaces, and, other than the few systems that have formed the basis for the majority of work in SAMs, almost none of the obvious opportunities to use self-assembly to build ordered, nanostructured interfaces have been examined. The preparation of more sophisticated structures based on molecules with complex stmctures, on self-assembled colloids, on multilayered polymers formed by electrostatic interactions between charged groups166,167, or on biologically derived structures is just beginning168-171. 

Shu, S., Husain, S. and Koros, W.J. (2007) A general strategy for adhesion enhancement in polymeric composites by formation of nanostructured particle surfaces. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 111 (2), 652-657. 

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