The charge-transfer complex between cresol molecules and carbon nanotubes is confirmed by ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance, Raman, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies. The stability of the cresol-nanotube complex in common solvents is determined by their dielectric constants. In solvents with high dielectric constants (>15), this non-covalent interaction is screened and the complex is destabilized, resulting in nanotube aggregation. In solvents with low dielectric constant (<10), the complex remains stable and the nanotubes are well dispersed. Therefore, using cresols as a minority cosolvent, surfactant-free dispersion of unfunctionalized single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes in common industrial solvents can be achieved. This cosolvent strategy makes it possible to customize nanotube formulations in volatile industrial solvents for high-throughput solution-processing techniques, such as airbrushing. On the other hand, since high-dielectric-constant solvents, such as acetone, can destabilize the cresol-nanotube complex, they can be used for the benefit of removing any residual cresols without heating, resulting in clean carbon nanotube films.

甲酚分子和碳纳米管之间的电荷转移复合物由¹确认H核磁共振，拉曼和傅立叶变换红外光谱研究。甲酚-纳米管配合物在常见溶剂中的稳定性取决于它们的介电常数。在具有高介电常数（> 15）的溶剂中，会筛选出这种非共价相互作用，并使配合物不稳定，从而导致纳米管聚集。在介电常数低（<10）的溶剂中，复合物保持稳定，纳米管分散良好。因此，使用甲酚作为少数助溶剂，可以实现未官能化的单壁和多壁碳纳米管在普通工业溶剂中的无表面活性剂分散。这种助溶剂策略使得可以在挥发性工业溶剂中定制纳米管配方，以用于高通量溶液处理技术，例如喷枪。