EAGER: Mattressene - A 3D Carbon Nanostructure Superlattice: Experimental and Theoretical Synthesis and Characterization

非技术描述：这项工作的主要目标是实验性制造一种新的、技术上重要的碳基纳米结构材料，称为matressene。从结构上看，石墨烯是由碳纳米管平行排列相互连接的交替单层石墨烯片组成，石墨烯和纳米管的这种规则、周期性排列使石墨烯表现出卓越的电子、热学和机械性能，使其适用于(i)高速、高密度的半导体芯片器件，（ii）能够将废热转化为电能的高效热电材料。（iii）用于电子设备中有效和快速去除热量的热界面材料；（iv）氢燃料电池中的高容量可逆储氢。技术细节：实验能力合成一种新的，有序的，碳基纳米超材料-床垫是在这个项目正在探索。mattresense由平行的石墨烯片组成，通过与石墨烯片正交的有序、平行的长度相同的单壁碳纳米管阵列相互连接。根据高精度密度泛函理论（DFT）计算，化学合成策略的关键要素包括组装由石墨烯和功能化富勒烯层交替组成的层状结构，然后在石墨烯和富勒烯之间进行化学附着，并通过环加成反应将富勒烯转化为碳纳米管。由石墨烯和纳米管组成的材料，结合三维周期排列，可以通过采用一层一层的合成方法进行适当的变化，使材料具有可调的电子、热和热电性能。这种可调性使聚氨酯非常理想，非常适合半导体器件、高效热传输材料和热电材料等技术应用。该项目的另一个重要影响是研究生在跨科学和工程领域的多学科环境中进行严格的训练，并使学生熟悉在这项工作中采用的先进，前沿的实验和理论研究工具和技术。一名博士后学者和几名本科生也参与了这个项目。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: The principal objective of this work is the experimental fabrication of a new, technologically important, carbon-based nanostructured material referred to as mattressene. Structurally, mattressene consists of alternating single-layer graphene sheets connected to each other by parallel arrays of carbon nanotubes, and this regular, periodic arrangement of graphene and nanotubes enables mattressene to exhibit remarkable electronic, thermal and mechanical properties, making it applicable as a (i) high-speed, high-density semiconductor chip device, (ii) high-efficiency thermoelectric material capable of converting waste heat to electricity, (iii) thermal interface material for efficient and swift removal of heat in electronic devices and (iv) high-capacity reversible hydrogen storage in hydrogen fuel cells.TECHNICAL DETAILS: The experimental ability to synthesize a new, ordered, carbon-based nano-metamaterial- mattressene is being explored in this project. Mattressene consists of parallel sheets of graphene connected to each other by ordered, parallel arrays of same-length single-walled carbon nanotubes oriented orthogonal to the graphene sheets. The key elements of the chemical synthesis strategy, appropriately informed by high-accuracy density functional theory (DFT) calculations, consists of assembling a layered structure comprised of alternating graphene and functionalized-fullerene layers, followed by chemical attachment between graphene and fullerenes and conversion of the fullerenes to carbon nanotubes via cycloaddition reactions. The building blocks of mattressene consist of graphene and nanotubes, and that in combination with a 3-D periodic arrangement which can be suitably varied by adopting the layer by layer synthesis approach, enables mattressene to exhibit tunable electronic, thermal and thermoelectric properties. This tunability makes mattresene highly desirable and ideally suited for technological applications as semiconducting devices, efficient thermal transport materials and thermoelectric materials. Another significant impact of this project is the rigorous training of a graduate student in a multi-disciplinary environment spanning across many fields of science and engineering as well as allowing the student to get familiarized with advanced, cutting-edge experimental and theoretical research tools and techniques that are adopted in this work. A post-doctoral scholar and several undergraduate students are also engaged in this project.