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

第一部分非技术说明固态冷却装置和轻型输电电缆等新的清洁能源技术将在提高能源效率和减少温室气体排放方面发挥重要作用。定向碳纳米管材料具有变革性的光学、电学、热学和机械性能，可以使这些清洁能源技术成为可能，但要发挥纳米管技术的最终潜力，还需要进一步的大规模国际合作研究。这项工作的目标是在日本和美国的研究人员之间建立国际联系，这些研究人员正在研究由定向碳纳米管制成的大规模材料的性质和性能。该项目汇集了两个拥有世界领先纳米管专业知识的国家，以加速定向纳米管材料的科学和技术。广泛的日本国际研究合作将使德克萨斯州、犹他州和纽约州大学的美国学生能够利用独特的研究设施，建立深厚的技术和文化联系。该计划还将支持休斯顿地区社区大学学生、高中理科教师和高中日语教师的国际研究和文化体验，这将扩大教育努力，将传统上服务不足的文化和经济多元化群体包括在内。在这一联合计划中建立的国际网络将作为持续的全球研究和教育的发射台，使纳米管技术能够用于清洁能源转型。第二部分技术说明虽然单个碳纳米管(CNT)的优异性能已为人所知多年，但扩大这些纳米级性能用于技术相关的大尺度系统需要回答关于单个CNT之间的结点、CNT束之间的结点以及具有不同掺杂水平的CNT区域之间的结点上的载流子和热传输的基本问题。研究小组将使用一套实验和理论方法来解决这些关于定向碳纳米管材料中光子、激子、声子和电子/空穴传输机制的公开问题，并将利用这些机制来构建新的能源转换、能量传输和热管理设备。该项目的具体技术目标包括展示利用定向碳纳米管薄膜的热发射的手性热光伏和固态辐射冷却设备；展示使用具有高热导率和高热电功率因数的定向碳纳米管的清洁能源热管理策略；以及展示用于轻型、高强度、高载流量输电的高导电性碳纳米管纤维。这些目标将通过与日本研究人员的合作来实现，这些研究人员致力于纳米管宏观材料合成、固态传输理论、材料表征以及使用定向纳米管开发能源设备。如果成功，这项工作中产生的新知识将使工程师和科学家能够开发和扩大这些排列的纳米管技术，以支持效率、寿命和可靠性更高的清洁能源技术部门。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.