Patent ID: 8480994

Claim:
A method of modifying carbon nanotubes, comprising: preparing a mixed solution consisting essentially of a radical initiator and a carbon nanotubes in which a radical initiator and a carbon nanotube are dispersed; applying energy to the mixed solution to decompose the radical initiator into a radical; and modifying the carbon nanotube by reacting the decomposed radical with a surface of the carbon nanotube, washing the carbon nanotubes after the reacting of the decomposed radical with the surface of the carbon nanotube; wherein the radical which has reacted with the carbon nanotube is detached from the carbon nanotube after the reaction with the carbon nanotube, wherein a surface of the modified carbon nanotube has no chemical bond_having a sp3 orbital thereon after the radical has been detached from the carbon nanotube, wherein the radical initiator comprises an azo compound, wherein the azo compound is a compound represented by Formula 1 below: wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are each independently a C 1-9 alkyl group, a C 1-9 alicyclic group or a C 1-9 alkylalicyclic group, and R 1 and R 2 can be bound to each other to form a C 5-8 hydrocarbon ring and R 3 and R 4 can be bound to each other to form a C 5-8 hydrocarbon ring.