NER: Fabrication of an Integrated Structure of 3D Macroporous Silica and Carbon Nanotubes

建议编号：CTS-0210195研究人员：Henry DUINSTITUTION：史蒂文斯理工学院：具有高度有序的相互连接的孔和碳纳米管的3D多孔材料处于科学和工程的前沿。这项纳米级探索性研究(NER)计划旨在通过探索在高比表面积微孔二氧化硅的孔壁上定向生长碳纳米管来整合这两个领域。目前正在开展几项工作，以实现拟议的目标。具体地说，平衡驱动的胶体自组装过程以及超细电子显微镜网格上的胶体外延被用来获得作为结构模板的聚苯乙烯球的蛋白石。采用溶胶-凝胶法对模板进行有效渗透，以在模板蛋白石随后的热分解后产生倒置的二氧化硅蛋白石。还在开发一种合成策略，用于在孔壁上沉积均匀的纳米级催化钴颗粒。这种方法被用来利用等离子体增强化学气相沉积在大孔二氧化硅的整个体积的孔壁上生长定向碳纳米管。该项目是已知的第一次尝试制造由3D大孔材料和碳纳米管组成的集成结构。正在解决与钴颗粒沉积和孔壁上定向碳纳米管的受控生长有关的关键挑战。这项工作的这两个方面的集成将产生潜在的坚固的结构，用于需要大量纳米管阵列来提高系统效率的应用。这些应用包括DNA和蛋白质的捕获、催化载体、海水淡化和燃料电池的氢气存储。在这项研究中产生的知识可以扩展到其他3D大孔材料的制造，如半导体。因此，该项目的成功为探索碳纳米管在纳米技术领域以及跨科学和工程领域的应用提供了令人兴奋的前景。

PROPOSAL NO.: CTS-0210195PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: HENRY DUINSTITUTION: STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYABSTRACT: 3D porous materials with highly ordered interconnecting pores and carbon nanotubes are at the frontier of science and engineering. This Nanoscale Exploratory Research (NER) proposal aims to integrate these two areas by exploring aligned growth of carbon nanotubes on the pore walls of high-surface-area microporous silica. Several tasks are being pursued to achieve the proposed goal. Specifically, equilibrium-driven colloidal self-assembly processes as well as colloidal epitaxy on ultra-fine TEM grids is being used to obtain opals of polystyrene spheres as structural templates. A sol-gel route is being employed for effective infiltration of the templates to produce inverted silica opals upon subsequent thermal decomposition of the template opals. A synthesis strategy is also being developed for deposition of uniform, nanometer-sized, catalytic cobalt particles on the pore walls. The approach is being used to grow aligned carbon nanotubes on the pore walls throughout the volume of the macroporous silica using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. This project represents the first known attempt to fabricate an integrated structure composed of 3D macroporous materials and carbon nanotubes. Critical challenges are being addressed related to the deposition of cobalt particles and the controlled growth of aligned carbon nanotubes on pore walls. The integration of the two aspects of this work will yield potentially robust structures for applications where an abundance of nanotube arrays is needed for system efficiency. Such applications include entrapment of DNA and proteins, catalytic supports, desalination of seawater, and hydrogen storage for fuel cells. Knowledge generated in this investigation can be extended to the fabrication of other 3D macroporous materials, such as semiconductors. The success of the project thus offers exciting prospects for the exploration of carbon nanotubes for applications in the nanotechnology arena and across science and engineering.