STTR Phase I: A Carbon Nanotube Metrology System for Industry and Research Environments

STTR 第一阶段：适用于工业和研究环境的碳纳米管计量系统

• 批准号: 0637868
• 负责人: Thomas Campbell
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: ADA Technologies, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-01-01 至 2007-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0637868&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; Carbon; Nanotube; Metrology

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop the world's first quantitative, low cost, reproducible, and rapid means to characterize single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) for the parameters critical to the nanotechnology community. Only a few metrology techniques on the market today offer the ability to measure the main carbon nanotube properties i.e., species, impurities, and structural properties for process improvement in production and routine quality validation in research. However, no instrument presently on the market offers the desirable metrology characteristics of low cost, low complexity, and reproducibility. ADA Technologies, Inc. proposes to develop this metrology tool through a novel optical spectroscopy technique coupled with Raman spectroscopy. Major technical objectives will be to design, fabricate, and test a prototype system in this Phase I project. Independent validation of results will be made with conventional metrology techniques. ADA will collaborate with leaders in SWNT metrology, Raman spectroscopy, and SWNT production. A cost/benefit analysis will be done to ensure the new metrology tool offers commercial advantages over existing tools. The proposed work will offer the nanotechnology community a significant advantage compared to existing systems and thus a new tool to help accelerate commercialization of SWNTs.Commercially, there are 50 plus commercial producers of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) worldwide and some 700 institutions engaged in CNT research. Total current production levels for CNTs are several tons per year for a market of ~$170M. Forecasts place the future market at around $3.6B by 2010, representing a compound annual growth rate of 60%. Despite this rapid growth, a key enabling technology still needed in CNT technology today is better metrology. Although instruments based on fluorescence spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy can measure the critical parameters of species, impurities, and structural characteristics, application of them is hindered by their complexity, high cost and poor reproducibility. The proposed integrated system will offer the first quantitative, low cost, reproducible, and rapid means to characterize SWNTs for the parameters critical to the CNT industry. This new capability will facilitate enhanced scientific and technological understanding of CNTs, resulting in improved process control in industry and enhanced quality validation in research.

这个小型企业技术转移（STTR）第一阶段项目将开发世界上第一个定量、低成本、可重复和快速的方法来表征单壁碳纳米管（SWNTs）的参数，这些参数对纳米技术社区至关重要。目前市场上只有少数计量技术能够测量碳纳米管的主要性质，即物质、杂质和结构性质，用于生产过程改进和研究中的常规质量验证。然而，目前市场上没有一种仪器能提供低成本、低复杂性和可重复性的理想计量特性。ADA技术公司建议通过一种新的光学光谱技术与拉曼光谱相结合来开发这种计量工具。主要的技术目标是在第一阶段项目中设计、制造和测试一个原型系统。将使用常规计量技术对结果进行独立验证。ADA将与SWNT计量、拉曼光谱和SWNT生产领域的领导者合作。将进行成本/效益分析，以确保新的计量工具比现有工具具有商业优势。与现有的系统相比，这项工作将为纳米技术界提供一个显著的优势，从而为加速swnt的商业化提供一个新的工具。在商业上，全世界有50多个碳纳米管（CNT）的商业生产商，大约700个机构从事碳纳米管的研究。目前碳纳米管的总生产水平为每年几吨，市场价值约为1.7亿美元。据预测，到2010年，未来的市场规模约为36亿美元，复合年增长率为60%。尽管这种快速增长，但碳纳米管技术今天仍然需要一个关键的使能技术是更好的计量。虽然基于荧光光谱和原子力显微镜的仪器可以测量物质、杂质和结构特征的关键参数，但它们的复杂性、高成本和可重复性差阻碍了它们的应用。提出的集成系统将提供第一个定量、低成本、可重复和快速的方法来表征碳纳米管行业的关键参数。这种新能力将促进对碳纳米管的科学和技术理解，从而改善工业中的过程控制和研究中的质量验证。