Advanced Hybrid Manufacturing Platform for Carbon Nanotube Devices (ADVENTURE)

碳纳米管（CNTs）在引起纳米技术的工业兴趣方面起着关键作用。他们的成功可以通过碳纳米管的产量来量化，碳纳米管的产量呈指数级增长，目前估计为5000吨/年。在某种程度上，这一成功可归因于碳纳米管的物理特性，其中一些特性不同于任何其他工程材料（例如，杨氏模量为1 TPa，抗拉强度为100 GPa，导热系数高达3500 Wm-1K-1）。重要的是，上述非图表性质仅适用于高质量的单个纳米管，而大多数商业应用需要将数千万到数百万个碳纳米颗粒组装到一个设备中。不幸的是，与集成到组件中的组成纳米颗粒相比，优点的机械和电子特性通常至少下降一个数量级。因此，开发新的制造工艺以增强碳纳米管的组装及其在器件中的集成是至关重要的。此外，许多应用需要将碳纳米管与用于电气连接的电极以及用于传感、微流体和生物医学应用的液体相结合，这通常需要各种额外的先进制造工艺，这些工艺具有若干复杂性和局限性。在这项EPSRC冒险制造资助中，我们的目标是开发创新的制造技术，能够制造具有集成电极和微通道的碳纳米颗粒结构组件。这需要整合以前从未尝试过的制造技术。它将允许在多个长度尺度上控制结构：-在纳米尺度（<500 nm），我们将使用化学气相沉积（CVD）来合成大型排列的碳纳米管阵列和自组装来控制它们的组织。-在微尺度（50 um - 500 nm），我们将使用多步光刻技术来定义读出电极，并定义碳纳米管的合成位置。-在最大规模（1mm - 50um），我们将使用激光加工（短脉冲和超短脉冲）来定义微通道和整体芯片几何形状。虽然以上每一种制造技术都是成熟的，但将这些方法结合在一起可以制造出全新的设备。保持不同过程之间的兼容性和一致性将带来新的研究挑战，这将在本项目中解决。最终，这套新的制造技术形成了一个平台技术，可以用来解决大量的工程问题。我们设想该提案的输出将在化学传感器，生物医学应用，微流体和执行器中找到应用。作为示范，该项目将开发基于碳纳米管的空间推进应用推进器。

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been pivotal in generating industrial interest in nanotechnology. Their success can be quantified by the production volume of CNTs, which is growing exponentially, and is currently estimated at 5000 ton/yr. In part, this success can be attributed to the physical properties of CNTs, some of which are unlike any other engineering material (e.g. Youngs Modulus of 1 TPa, a tensile strength of 100 GPa, thermal conductivities up to 3500 Wm-1K-1). Importantly, the above off-the-chart properties only apply to high quality individual nanotubes whereas most commercial applications require tens to millions of carbon nanoparticles to be assembled into one device. Unfortunately, the mechanical and electronic properties of merit typically drop by at least an order of magnitude in comparison to the constituent nanoparticles once integrated into an assembly. It is therefore critical to develop new manufacturing processes which enable enhanced assembly of CNTs and their integration in devices. Additionally, many applications require CNTs to be interfaced with electrodes for electrical connections, as well as with liquids for sensing, microfluidic and biomedical applications, which typically require various additional advanced manufacturing processes that have several complexities and limitations.In this EPSRC Adventurous Manufacturing grant, we aim to develop innovative manufacturing techniques capable of creating structured assemblies of carbon nanoparticles with both integrated electrodes and microchannels. This requires the consolidation of manufacturing techniques that has never been attempted previously. It will allow control of structures over multiples length scales: - At the nanoscale (<500 nm), we will use chemical vapour deposition (CVD) to synthesise large arrays of aligned CNTs and self-assembly to control their organisation.- At the microscale (50 um - 500 nm), we will use multiple step lithography to define read-out electrodes and define where CNTs are synthesised.- At the largest scale (1 mm - 50 um), we will use laser processing (short and ultrashort pulses) to define microchannels and the overall chip geometry. While each of the above manufacturing techniques are well established, bringing these methods together enables the manufacturing of radically new devices. Maintaining compatibilities and alignments between different processes will create new research challenges which will be addressed in this project. Ultimately, this new set of manufacturing techniques form a platform technology that can be used to solve a multitude of engineering problems. We envision the outputs of this proposal to find applications in chemical sensors, biomedical applications, microfluidics and actuators As a demonstrator, this project will develop CNT based thrusters for space propulsion applications.