Encapsulation of metallic nanowires inside carbon nanotubes for next generation nanostructured device architectures

这项工作的重点是建立新的化学物质，以产生填充金属材料的碳纳米管，它们的表征，并实施到优化的设备几何结构。金属填充碳纳米管的性能在很大程度上取决于所采用的合成技术以及化学成分和合成环境。纳米材料设计团队在大规模生产碳纳米管方面取得了重大进展，促进了它们与新型纳米工程材料的集成，用于各种不同的设备。通过对金属材料进行封装，可以利用金属材料的纳米级特性，这些金属材料受到机械保护和碳纳米管的氧化保护。最先进的化学气相沉积合成技术与现场监测技术相结合，使我们能够设计碳纳米管的金属填充和形态，最终改变生成材料的物理性质。其他合成技术包括在所需金属填充的熔融盐中电解和所需材料的蒸汽填充。原位和非原位合成技术被用于封装不同功能的不同金属材料。这种多功能纳米材料也可以制成柔性复合材料或单独使用。例如，填充了磁性材料的碳纳米管薄膜重量轻、强度高，可以被磁性操纵所干扰。具有这些特性的材料被热衷于机器人、传感和超高密度磁存储设备。另一方面，金属填充的纳米管可以为电池应用中的负极材料提供更大的表面积和结构稳定性。为了最终确定这些材料的特征并确认它们的潜在应用，将使用透射电子显微镜和扫描电子显微镜来测量填充的纳米管的填充程度和形态。这些技术将与能量色散X射线光谱和拉曼光谱相结合，以获得填充物的局部成分数据。X射线衍射将被用来表征纳米管内产生的填充材料的不同相的存在，以更好地了解合成机理。这些结果将与材料的电化学、热电或磁性性能相关，最终以迭代的方式为合成过程的修改提供反馈回路，以优化材料的所需性能。这项工作将分别与纳米材料和电化学表征领域的国际领先专家合作进行。此外，该研究小组有一系列的工业合作伙伴，一旦在金属填充的碳纳米管材料方面取得进展，将寻求具体的潜在应用。传统上，只要有可能，纳米材料设计研究小组的学生就会被鼓励与学术合作者和行业合作伙伴接触。该研究项目属于EPSRC能源、工程、医疗技术、制造未来、物理科学等研究领域。

The focus of this work is to establish novel chemical to generate carbon nanotubes filled with metallic materials, their characterisation, and implementation into optimised device geometries. Properties of metallically filled carbon nanotubes are highly dependent on the synthesis technique implemented and the chemical composition and synthesis environment. The Nanomaterials by Design team have made significant progress with large scale production of carbon nanotubes, facilitating their integration into novel nanoengineered materials for use in a variety of different devices. Encapsulating the metallic material allows exploitation of the nanoscale properties of the metallic materials protected both mechanically and from oxidation by the carbon nanotube. State-of-the-art chemical vapour deposition synthesis techniques in conjunction with in situ monitoring technologies allow us to engineer the metallic filling and morphology of carbon nanotubes ultimately altering the physical properties of the generated materials. Other synthesis techniques include electrolysis in molten salts of the desired metallic filling and vapour filling of the desired material. Both in situ and ex situ synthesis techniques are implemented for encapsulation of different metallic materials for varying functionality. Such multi-functional nanomaterials can also be produced into flexible composites or utilised individually. For example, thin films of carbon nanotubes filled with a magnetic material are lightweight, strong, and can be perturbed by magnetic manipulation. Materials with these properties are highly sought for robotics, sensing and ultra-high-density magnetic storage devices. Alternatively, metallically filled nanotubes can provide large surface area and structural stability for anode materials in battery applications. In order to ultimately characterise these materials and confirm their potential application, transmission electron microscopy will be utilised alongside scanning electron microscopy to gauge the degree of filling and morphology of the filled nanotubes. These techniques will be combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy to obtain local compositional data on the fillings. X-ray diffraction will be utilised to characterise the presence of various phases of filled material generated inside the nanotubes to better understanding into the synthesis mechanisms. These results will be correlated to the electrochemical, thermoelectric or magnetic performance of the materials, ultimately providing a feedback loop for the modification of the synthesis procedure, in an iterative fashion, to optimise the desired properties of the materials. The work will be conducted in collaboration with internationally leading experts in the fields of nanomaterials and electrochemical characterisation respectively. Moreover, the research group has a range of industrial collaborators and specific potential applications will be sought once progress has been made with the metallically filled carbon nanotube materials. Traditionally, the students of the Nanomaterials of Design research group are encouraged to engage with academic collaborators as well as industry partners whenever feasible. This research project falls within the EPSRC Energy, Engineering, Healthcare technologies, Manufacturing the future, Physical sciences research areas.