Limiting Growth Mechanisms and Continuous Manufacturing of Aligned Carbon Nanotube Films

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This research will seek to enable a manufacturing technology for continuous large-scale production of aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) films by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and for integration of these films in new hybrid material architectures including structural composites. A detailed study of catalyst activation, evolution, deactivation, and reactivation for substrate-bound growth of CNT films will contribute to a broader understanding of the growth mechanism of CNTs by CVD, particularly how the characteristics of a CNT forest depend on process variables in each of four critical processing stages. A predictive mathematical model will be created using our characterization data, particularly real-time kinetics measurements and spatial mapping of CNT forests by X-ray scattering. This will enable production of CNT forests having specified tolerances on diameter, length, and structural quality, for both batch-style and continuous processing. Direct integration of aligned CNT films to create nano-engineered advanced composites will overcome drawbacks of composites which are made by dispersion and mixing, and will serve as a testbed for evaluating the relationship between CNT characteristics and bulk engineering properties. Industry involvement in the continuing collaboration between PI?s through MIT?s NECST Consortium provides a strong application context for the research.Educationally, growth and manufacturing process models will be incorporated in the PI?s new graduate course on nanomaterials manufacturing at the University of Michigan, and the heated platform reactor used for our batch-style studies will be used in new undergraduate laboratory exercises in synthesis and characterization of CNTs and in design of experiments. Interactive lectures to high school students will introduce nanomaterials and feature application brainstorming and physics modeling challenges. Further, we will create visualizations such as high-resolution electron microscope images of CNTs and videos of CNT growth, as already pioneered by the PI?s nanobliss effort, to engage and educate broader and younger audiences.