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。该系统将使用全息光捕获（HOT）与空间光调制器（SLM）和一种新型的纳米控制光聚合。该工具将允许创造一种新型的碳纳米管聚合物复合材料，在各种不同的聚合物宿主中，具有前所未有的对材料结构的控制，包括方向、分布、缠结和形状。这些新材料体系的实现将有助于系统地探索有组织碳纳米管复合材料的机械、热、电性能和结构-性能关系。这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力不仅涉及开发一类新的工程材料，而且涉及改进现有的纳米制造方法和多阱全息光学捕获（HOT）系统的技术。即将开发的新型纳米制造系统将为以前不适合工业制造的纳米材料系统的制造开辟新的途径。能够生产中等体积材料的系统的发展为系统地研究碳纳米管/聚合物复合结构的宏观特性创造了一种手段。碳纳米管复合材料的一个潜在市场是作为氧化铟锡（ITO）的替代品。ITO被广泛应用于快速增长的显示市场和红外光学器件市场。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，有超过100个已发表的研究小组在研究光学捕获，主要用于生物研究，这将代表着HOT方法的一个相当大的市场。这个市场要求不断改进技术，并将这些系统整合到复杂的显微镜工具中，这激起了显微镜制造商对有源波前调制设备作为可选产品配件的兴趣。

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.