PIRE: JUNCTION Japan-US Network for Clean Energy Technologies Involving Oriented Nanotubes

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Part 1. Nontechnical descriptionNew clean energy technologies such as solid-state cooling devices and lightweight power transmission cables will play an important role in improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The transformative optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of aligned carbon nanotube materials can enable these clean energy technologies, but further large-scale international collaborative research is required to reach the ultimate potential for nanotube technologies. The goal of this work is to build international JUNCTIONs between Japan-based and U.S.-based researchers that are investigating the properties and performance of large-scale materials made from oriented carbon nanotubes. This project brings together two nations with world-leading nanotube expertise to accelerate the science and technology of aligned nanotube materials. Extensive Japan-based international research collaborations will allow U.S.-based students attending universities in the states of Texas, Utah, and New York to leverage unique research facilities and build deep technical and cultural connections. The program also will support international research and cultural experiences for Houston-area community college students, high-school science teachers, and high-school Japanese teachers, which broadens the education efforts to include a traditionally underserved culturally and economically diverse cohort. The international network built in this JUNCTION program will serve as a launching pad for sustained global research and education to enable nanotube technologies for the clean energy transformation. Part 2. Technical descriptionThough the outstanding properties of individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been known for many years, scaling up these nanoscale properties for technologically relevant macroscale systems requires answering fundamental questions regarding carrier and heat¬¬ transport at the junctions between individual CNTs; at junctions between bundles of CNTs; and at junctions between CNT regions with different doping levels. The research team will use a suite of experimental and theoretical methods to address these open questions regarding the mechanisms of photon, exciton, phonon, and electron/hole transport in aligned carbon nanotube materials, and will leverage these mechanisms in the construction of new energy conversion, energy transmission, and thermal management devices. The specific technical objectives of this project include the demonstration of chiral thermophotovoltaic and solid-state radiative cooling devices using thermal emission from oriented CNT films; the demonstration of clean energy thermal management strategies using aligned CNTs with high thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric power factor; and the demonstration of high-electrical conductivity CNT fibers for lightweight, high-strength, high-ampacity power transmission. These objectives will be accomplished by leveraging collaborations with Japan-based researchers who are working on nanotube macromaterial synthesis, solid-state transport theory, material characterization, and development of energy devices using oriented nanotubes. If successful, the new knowledge generated in this work will allow engineers and scientists to develop and scale up these aligned nanotube technologies to support a clean energy technology sector with improved efficiency, lifetime, and reliability.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.