High Throughput Manufacturing of Carbide Nanowire-Carbon Microfiber Hybrid Structures and Polymer Composites from Cotton Textiles

这项拨款为使用棉织物作为模板和碳源合成大量径向排列的高强度碳化物纳米线提供资金。纳米线在聚合物基复合材料中作为增强材料的应用备受关注，但由于制造方面的挑战，目前还没有得到广泛应用。这项工作的主要目标是解决纳米复合材料制造的两个最关键的限制，即增强材料的分散性差和低吞吐量。该方法的新颖之处在于“通过设计”控制纳米线的分散，因为纳米线生长在既是模板又是碳源的衬底上。本研究项目将研究纳米线在棉花基体上的形成机制，以及碳化物纳米线-碳超细纤维混杂结构在复合材料结构中的增强机制。高通量制造层状聚合物纳米复合材料将探索通过特别设计的旋转铸造和片状成型工艺。如果成功，本研究结果将有助于更好地理解碳化物纳米线-碳超细纤维混杂结构及其增强聚合物纳米复合材料的制造-结构-性能-功能。这项研究有可能改变纳米增强分散的传统概念，并对现有的纳米材料制造技术产生重大影响。通过该项目取得的研究进展将产生新的知识，这些知识将通过现有课程介绍给本科生和研究生，研究活动将被用作各级学生学习材料加工和制造的教育平台。

This grant provides funding for synthesizing large quantities of radially-aligned high-strength carbide nanowires using cotton textiles as both the template and carbon source. Nanowires are of great interest for use as reinforcements in polymer matrix composites but are not in widespread use today due to manufacturing challenges. The primary goal of this work is to solve the two most critical limitations in nanocomposite manufacturing, i.e., poor dispersion of the reinforcements and low throughput. The novelty of the approach is the controlled dispersion of the nanowires "by design" as the result of growing the nanowires on a substrate that is both the template and carbon source. This research program will study both the mechanisms of formation for the nanowires on the cotton substrate as well as study the reinforcing mechanisms of the carbide nanowire-carbon microfiber hybrid structures in composite structures. High throughput manufacturing of laminated polymer nanocomposites will be explored through specially designed spin casting and sheet molding processes. If successful, the results of this research will contribute to a better understanding of the manufacturing-structure-property-function of carbide nanowire-carbon microfiber hybrid structures and their reinforced polymer nanocomposites. This research has the potential to change the conventional concepts for nano-reinforcement dispersion and to significantly impact existing nanomaterials manufacturing technologies. The research advances made through this project will generate new knowledge that will be introduced to undergraduate and graduate students through existing courses and the research activities will be used as an educational platform for students at all levels to learn about materials processing and manufacturing.