Nanomanufacturing and Production Scale-up of Long Carbon Nanotube Arrays for Advanced Applications

用于先进应用的长碳纳米管阵列的纳米制造和生产放大

• 批准号: 0727250
• 负责人: Vesselin Shanov
• 金额: $ 27万
• 依托单位: University of Cincinnati Main Campus
• 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: 2007-09-01 至 2011-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0727250&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Nanomanufacturing; Production; Scale; up; Long

Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) are of great interest because of their outstanding mechanical, electrical, and optical properties. Intense research efforts have been undertaken to synthesize long aligned CNT because of their potential applications in nanomedicine, aerospace, electronics and many other areas. The long CNT arrays can be spun into fibers that are in theory stronger and lighter than any existing fibers, which will engender revolutionary advances in the development of lightweight and high-strength materials. Nevertheless, many limitations to synthesize long CNT arrays still remain. Recently, UC (University of Cincinnati) researchers developed a novel composite catalyst for oriented growth and succeeded to produce the longest CNT arrays (11.5 mm and above) reported in the literature. The length of this "black cotton" is optimal for spinning threads. The project includes intense research efforts to meet industry demand for large quantities of long nanotubes, to scale up the cultivated process, and to develop the manufacturing tools and methods that industry needs to "mass produce" nanotubes. The UC new nanotube synthesis lab and "clean room" makes these goals achievable. The immediate objectives of this project are to develop a technique to synthesize long carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays on 10 cm diameter substrates, and to demonstrate the potential to scale-up production of nanotube arrays to larger substrates. The approach that will be taken is based on the implementation of a novel catalyst that provides tailored catalytic activity, moderate growth temperature, and an increased number of reactive growth sides. In addition, an optimized Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process for growth of centimeter long CNT will be used. The large area substrate preparation will be handled by employing different thin film deposition techniques which are successfully proven in industrial environment. A series of carefully planned experiments will be performed to sequentially optimize different variables involved in nanotube synthesis, including the current catalyst composition. Scale-up of array production will involve: (i) determining the optimal parameters for catalyst deposition on 10 cm size single crystal Si substrates, (ii) employing the optimized catalyst deposition and CVD growth on larger substrates, and (iii) evaluating methods to reduce manufacturing cost per squire cm of CNT array. The expected outcome of the project is to produce a breakthrough in nanoscale manufacturing in the US. Advances in the development of nanotube materials will have a tremendous rippling effect across all engineering and life sciences disciplines. The UC researchers have been working for four years to develop substrate processing procedures to produce dense arrays of long nanotubes. They will also work with CVD Equipment Corp. and North Carolina A&T SU to optimize substrate preparation and scale up nanotube production. One of the most important CNT array applications is to spin the nanotubes into fibers for use in advanced composite materials. The spinning will be developed by Industrial Nano, Inc. UC will produce large area, long nanotube arrays as a "black cotton" commodity for spinning into threads. The broad impact of the proposed activities will be to kick the US economy forward by providing technology to produce commodity scale quantities of long carbon nanotubes that will enable development of ultra lightweight electrically conductive threads to replace micro fibers in composites. This will have applications in many products including aircraft such as the Boeing 787, the space elevator, aircraft engines, and sporting equipment. Another exiting field that will benefit from this research is related to successful heat dissipation from high density electronic chips and circuits, because of the excellent thermal conductivity of the CNT arrays.The educational activity of this project involves training students in the interdisciplinary area of the emerging nanotechnology, and integrating nanostructured materials engineering and manufacturing into the curriculum to provide the future work force in the nanotechnology age.

碳纳米管（CNT）由于其优异的机械、电学和光学性能而引起人们极大的兴趣。由于长排列碳纳米管在纳米医学、航空航天、电子学等领域的潜在应用，人们对长排列碳纳米管的合成进行了大量的研究。长CNT阵列可以纺成理论上比任何现有纤维更强更轻的纤维，这将在轻质和高强度材料的开发中产生革命性的进步。然而，合成长CNT阵列的许多限制仍然存在。最近，UC（辛辛那提）的研究人员开发了一种用于定向生长的新型复合催化剂，并成功地生产了文献中报道的最长CNT阵列（11.5 mm及以上）。这种“黑棉”的长度最适合纺纱。该项目包括密集的研究工作，以满足工业对大量长纳米管的需求，扩大培养过程，并开发工业“大规模生产”纳米管所需的制造工具和方法。加州大学新的纳米管合成实验室和“洁净室”使这些目标得以实现。该项目的近期目标是开发一种在直径为10 cm的基底上合成长碳纳米管（CNT）阵列的技术，并展示将纳米管阵列的生产规模扩大到更大基底的潜力。将采取的方法是基于一种新的催化剂，提供定制的催化活性，温和的生长温度，和反应性生长侧的数量增加的实施。此外，将使用优化的化学气相沉积（CVD）工艺来生长厘米长的CNT。大面积基板的制备将采用不同的薄膜沉积技术，这是成功地证明在工业环境中处理。将进行一系列精心计划的实验，以依次优化纳米管合成中涉及的不同变量，包括当前的催化剂组合物。阵列生产的规模扩大将涉及：（i）确定在10 cm尺寸的单晶Si衬底上催化剂沉积的最佳参数，（ii）在较大衬底上采用优化的催化剂沉积和CVD生长，以及（iii）评估降低每平方厘米CNT阵列的制造成本的方法。 该项目的预期成果是在美国的纳米制造领域取得突破。纳米管材料的发展进步将对所有工程和生命科学学科产生巨大的涟漪效应。加州大学的研究人员已经工作了四年，以开发基板处理程序，以产生长纳米管的密集阵列。他们还将与CVD设备公司和北卡罗来纳州AT SU合作，优化衬底制备和扩大纳米管生产。碳纳米管阵列最重要的应用之一是将纳米管纺成纤维，用于先进的复合材料。这项技术将由Industrial Nano，Inc.开发。加州大学将生产大面积，长纳米管阵列作为一个“黑色棉花”商品纺成线。拟议活动的广泛影响将是通过提供生产商品规模数量的长碳纳米管的技术来推动美国经济发展，这将使超轻导电线的开发能够取代复合材料中的微纤维。这将在许多产品中得到应用，包括波音787等飞机、太空电梯、飞机发动机和体育器材。另一个将从这项研究中受益的现有领域是与高密度电子芯片和电路的成功散热有关，因为CNT阵列具有出色的导热性。该项目的教育活动涉及在新兴纳米技术的跨学科领域培训学生，并将纳米结构材料工程和制造纳入课程，以提供纳米技术时代的未来劳动力。