SBIR Phase I: Dissolution of Full-Length Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种具有成本效益的技术来制备全长单壁碳纳米管（s-l-SWNTs）。 这些单壁碳纳米管将可溶于普通的有机溶剂的剥离和非共价官能化的单壁碳纳米管绳。 我们希望开发一种可以以低成本扩大规模的溶解过程，从而实现可溶性全长单壁碳纳米管的商业化生产。 目前已知的所有全长单壁碳纳米管都不溶于有机溶剂。 虽然单壁碳纳米管被认为是最终的碳纤维，但可溶性全长单壁碳纳米管的开发可以为制备整料、纤维、膜和涂层形式的均匀纳米管基共聚物和聚合物复合材料提供必要的加工性。 这些纳米结构材料的发展有望在航空航天器的高温、高强度和轻质结构材料;军用飞机和舰船的电磁辐射屏蔽涂层;汽车的抗静电涂层;微电子和光电子的有机薄膜器件;空间薄膜锂电池等方面得到应用。 可溶性单壁碳纳米管是功能纳米结构的通用构建单元，在分子电子学中有着重要的应用。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a cost-effective technology to prepare full-length single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-l-SWNTs). These SWNTs will be soluble in common organic solvents by the exfoliation and noncovalent functionalization of SWNT ropes. We expect to develop a dissolution process that can be scaled up at low cost, thereby enabling commercial production of soluble full-length single-walled carbon nanotubes. All of the currently known full-length SWNTs are insoluble in organic solvents. While single-walled carbon nanotubes are recognized as the ultimate carbon fiber, the development of soluble full-length single-walled carbon nanotubes can provide the necessary processability for the preparation of homogeneous nanotube-based copolymers and polymer composites in the form of monoliths, fibers, films and coatings. The development of these nanostructured materials is expected to enable applications in high temperature, high strength and light-weight structural materials for aircraft and space vehicles; electromagnetic radiation shielding coatings for military aircraft and ships; antistatic coatings for automobile; organic thin film devices for micro-electronics and -optoelectronics; thin film lithium batteries for space. Soluble individual single-walled carbon nanotubes are versatile building blocks for functional nanostructures which may find important application in molecular electronics.