STTR Phase I: Structural properties of carbon nanotube polymer composites

这个小型企业技术转移第一阶段项目将开发一种制造和操纵碳纳米管(CNT)复合材料的新系统。该系统将使用带有空间光调制器(SLM)的全息光学陷阱(HOT)和一种新型的纳米控制光聚合。这种工具将允许创造一种新的碳纳米管聚合物复合材料，在各种不同的聚合物主体中对材料结构进行前所未有的控制，包括取向、分布、缠绕和形状。这些新材料体系的实现将有助于系统地探索有序碳纳米管复合材料的力学、热学和电学性质以及结构-性质关系。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力不仅涉及一类新型工程材料的开发，还涉及多陷阱全息光学陷阱(HOT)系统现有纳米制造方法和技术的改进。即将开发的新纳米制造系统将为制造以前不适合工业制造的纳米材料系统开辟新的途径。能够生产适量材料的系统的开发为系统研究碳纳米管/聚合物复合结构的宏观性质创造了一种手段。碳纳米管复合材料的一个潜在市场是作为铟锡氧化物(ITO)的替代品。ITO被广泛应用于快速增长的显示器市场和红外光学设备市场。然而，由于铟的高成本和有限的供应，替代透明导体是非常可取的。此外，有100多个已发表的研究小组正在研究光学捕获，主要用于生物研究，这将代表着这一热门方法的进步的一个相当大的市场。这一市场要求不断改进技术，而将这些系统集成到复杂的显微镜工具中，激发了显微镜制造商作为可选产品附件的兴趣。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will develop a new system for fabrication and manipulation of carbon nanotube (CNT) composites. The system will use holographic optical trapping (HOT) with a spatial light modulator (SLM) and a new form of nano-controlled photo-polymerization. This tool will allow the creation of a new class of carbon-nanotube polymer composite materials with unprecedented control over the material structure, including orientation, distribution, tangling and shape, in a variety of different polymer hosts. Realization of these new material systems will facilitate systematic exploration of the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties and structure-property relationships in organized carbon-nanotube composites.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project relates not only the development of a new class of engineered materials but also to improvement of available nanofabrication methods and technology for multi-trap holographic optical trapping (HOT) systems. The new nanofabrication system to be developed will open new avenues for fabricating nanomaterial systems which were previously unsuitable for industrial fabrication. The development of a system capable of producing moderate volumes of material creates a means for systematic study of the macroscopic properties of carbon-nanotube/polymer composite structures. One potential market for carbon-nanotube composites is as an alternative to Indium Tin Oxide (ITO). ITO is widely used in the rapidly growing display market and in the infrared optical device market. However, due to the high cost and limited supply of Indium, alternative transparent conductors are highly desirable. Additionally, there are well over a hundred published research groups pursuing optical trapping, primarily for biological research, who would represent a sizable market for advances in the HOT method. This market demands continued improvement of technology, and the incorporation of these systems into complex microscope tools has piqued the interest of microscope manufacturers in active wave-front modulation devices as optional product accessories.