Buckypaper

Last updated
Buckypaper made of carbon nanotubes Buckypaper.jpg
Buckypaper made of carbon nanotubes

Buckypaper is a thin sheet made from an aggregate of carbon nanotubes [1] or carbon nanotube grid paper. The nanotubes are approximately 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. Originally, it was fabricated as a way to handle carbon nanotubes, but it is also being studied and developed into applications by several research groups, showing promise as vehicle armor, personal armor, and next-generation electronics and displays.

Contents

Background

Buckypaper is a macroscopic aggregate of carbon nanotubes (CNT), or "buckytubes". It owes its name to the buckminsterfullerene, the 60 carbon fullerene (an allotrope of carbon with similar bonding that is sometimes referred to as a "Buckyball" in honor of R. Buckminster Fuller). [1]

Synthesis

The generally accepted methods of making CNT films involves the use of surfactants, such as Triton X-100 [2] and sodium lauryl sulfate, [3] which improves their dispersibility in aqueous solution. These suspensions can then be membrane filtered under positive or negative pressure to yield uniform films. [4] The van der Waals force's interaction between the nanotube surface and the surfactant can often be mechanically strong and quite stable and therefore there are no assurances that all the surfactant is removed from the CNT film after formation. Washing with methanol, an effective solvent in the removal of Triton X, was found to cause cracking and deformation of the film. It has also been found that Triton X can lead to cell lysis and in turn tissue inflammatory responses even at low concentrations. [5]

In order to avoid adverse side-effects from the possible presence of surfactants, an alternative casting process can be used involving a frit compression method that did not require the use of surfactants or surface modification. [6] The dimensions can be controlled through the size of the syringe housing and through the mass of carbon nanotubes added. Their thicknesses are typically much larger than surfactant-cast buckypaper and have been synthesized from 120 μm up to 650 μm; whilst no nomenclature system exists to govern thicknesses for samples to be classified as paper, samples with thicknesses greater than 500 μm are referred to as buckydiscs. The frit compression method allows rapid casting of buckypaper and buckydiscs with recovery of the casting solvent and control over the 2D and 3D geometry.

Aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) growth has been used in CNT film synthesis through the domino effect. [7] In this process, "forests" of MWNTs are pushed flat in a single direction, compressing their vertical orientation into the horizontal plane, which results in the formation of high-purity buckypaper with no further purification or treatment required. By comparison, when a buckypaper sample was formed from the 1 ton compression of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) generated MWNT powder, any application of a solvent led to the immediate swelling of the film till it reverted into particulate matter. It appears that for the CNT powder used, compression alone was insufficient to generate robust buckypaper and highlights that the aligned growth methodology generates in situ tube-tube interactions not found in CVD CNT powder and are preserved through to the domino pushing formation of buckypaper.

Recently, [8] a new scalable CNT film fabrication method has been developed: Surface-Engineered Tape Casting (SETC) technique. The SETC technique solves the main challenge of tape-casting which is the detachment of the dried and the typically sticky CNT film from the supporting-substrate. To achieve a perfect detached film, the supporting-substrate has to be engineered with micro-pyramid pore structure morphology. SETC produces large area films from any commercially available carbon nanotubes with tunable length, thickness, density and composition.

Properties

Comparative flame test of airplanes made of cellulose, carbon buckypaper and inorganic boron nitride nanotube buckypaper. Flame test of buckypapers.jpg
Comparative flame test of airplanes made of cellulose, carbon buckypaper and inorganic boron nitride nanotube buckypaper.

Buckypaper is one tenth the weight yet potentially 500 times stronger than steel when its sheets are stacked to form a composite. [1] It could disperse heat like brass or steel and it could conduct electricity like copper or silicon. [1]

Applications

Among the possible uses for buckypaper that are being researched:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon nanotube</span> Allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure

A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with a diameter in the nanometre range (nanoscale). They are one of the allotropes of carbon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanadium redox battery</span> Type of rechargeable flow battery

The vanadium redox battery (VRB), also known as the vanadium flow battery (VFB) or vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB), is a type of rechargeable flow battery. It employs vanadium ions as charge carriers. The battery uses vanadium's ability to exist in a solution in four different oxidation states to make a battery with a single electroactive element instead of two. For several reasons, including their relative bulkiness, vanadium batteries are typically used for grid energy storage, i.e., attached to power plants/electrical grids.

A non-carbon nanotube is a cylindrical molecule often composed of metal oxides, or group III-Nitrides and morphologically similar to a carbon nanotube. Non-carbon nanotubes have been observed to occur naturally in some mineral deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flow battery</span> Type of electrochemical cell

A flow battery, or redox flow battery, is a type of electrochemical cell where chemical energy is provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids that are pumped through the system on separate sides and in opposite direction of a membrane. Ion transfer inside the cell occurs through the membrane while both liquids circulate in their own respective space. Cell voltage is chemically determined by the Nernst equation and ranges, in practical applications, from 1.0 to 2.43 volts. The energy capacity is a function of the electrolyte volume and the power is a function of the surface area of the electrodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potential applications of carbon nanotubes</span>

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylinders of one or more layers of graphene (lattice). Diameters of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are typically 0.8 to 2 nm and 5 to 20 nm, respectively, although MWNT diameters can exceed 100 nm. CNT lengths range from less than 100 nm to 0.5 m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium iron phosphate battery</span> Type of rechargeable battery

The lithium iron phosphate battery or LFP battery is a type of lithium-ion battery using lithium iron phosphate as the cathode material, and a graphitic carbon electrode with a metallic backing as the anode. Because of their low cost, high safety, low toxicity, long cycle life and other factors, LFP batteries are finding a number of roles in vehicle use, utility-scale stationary applications, and backup power. LFP batteries are cobalt-free. As of September 2022, LFP type battery market share for EVs reached 31%, and of that, 68% was from Tesla and Chinese EV maker BYD production alone. Chinese manufacturers currently hold a near monopoly of LFP battery type production. With patents having started to expire in 2022 and the increased demand for cheaper EV batteries, LFP type production is expected to rise further and surpass lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC) type batteries in 2028.

Organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) are fabricated from thin films of organic semiconductors, such as polymers and small-molecule compounds, and are typically on the order of 100 nm thick. Because polymer based OPVs can be made using a coating process such as spin coating or inkjet printing, they are an attractive option for inexpensively covering large areas as well as flexible plastic surfaces. A promising low cost alternative to conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon, there is a large amount of research being dedicated throughout industry and academia towards developing OPVs and increasing their power conversion efficiency.

Frit compression is the technique used to fabricate buckypaper and buckydiscs from a suspension of carbon nanotubes in a solvent. This is a quick, efficient method over surfactant-casting or acid oxidation filtration of carbon nanotubes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical properties of carbon nanotubes</span> Optical properties of the material

The optical properties of carbon nanotubes are highly relevant for materials science. The way those materials interact with electromagnetic radiation is unique in many respects, as evidenced by their peculiar absorption, photoluminescence (fluorescence), and Raman spectra.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are very prevalent in today's world of medical research and are being highly researched in the fields of efficient drug delivery and biosensing methods for disease treatment and health monitoring. Carbon nanotube technology has shown to have the potential to alter drug delivery and biosensing methods for the better, and thus, carbon nanotubes have recently garnered interest in the field of medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transparent conducting film</span> Optically transparent and electrically conductive material

Transparent conducting films (TCFs) are thin films of optically transparent and electrically conductive material. They are an important component in a number of electronic devices including liquid-crystal displays, OLEDs, touchscreens and photovoltaics. While indium tin oxide (ITO) is the most widely used, alternatives include wider-spectrum transparent conductive oxides (TCOs), conductive polymers, metal grids and random metallic networks, carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphene, nanowire meshes and ultra thin metal films.

The exceptional electrical and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes have made them alternatives to the traditional electrical actuators for both microscopic and macroscopic applications. Carbon nanotubes are very good conductors of both electricity and heat, and are also very strong and elastic molecules in certain directions. These properties are difficult to find in the same material and very needed for high performance actuators. For current carbon nanotube actuators, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and bundles of MWNTs have been widely used mostly due to the easiness of handling and robustness. Solution dispersed thick films and highly ordered transparent films of carbon nanotubes have been used for the macroscopic applications.

Self-assembling peptides are a category of peptides which undergo spontaneous assembling into ordered nanostructures. Originally described in 1993, these designer peptides have attracted interest in the field of nanotechnology for their potential for application in areas such as biomedical nanotechnology, tissue cell culturing, molecular electronics, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pseudocapacitor</span>

Pseudocapacitors store electrical energy faradaically by electron charge transfer between electrode and electrolyte. This is accomplished through electrosorption, reduction-oxidation reactions, and intercalation processes, termed pseudocapacitance.

A carbon nanotube field-effect transistor (CNTFET) is a field-effect transistor that utilizes a single carbon nanotube (CNT) or an array of carbon nanotubes as the channel material, instead of bulk silicon, as in the traditional MOSFET structure. There have been major developments since CNTFETs were first demonstrated in 1998.

Carbon nanotube springs are springs made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). They are an alternate form of high-density, lightweight, reversible energy storage based on the elastic deformations of CNTs. Many previous studies on the mechanical properties of CNTs have revealed that they possess high stiffness, strength and flexibility. The Young's modulus of CNTs is 1 TPa and they have the ability to sustain reversible tensile strains of 6% and the mechanical springs based on these structures are likely to surpass the current energy storage capabilities of existing steel springs and provide a viable alternative to electrochemical batteries. The obtainable energy density is predicted to be highest under tensile loading, with an energy density in the springs themselves about 2500 times greater than the energy density that can be reached in steel springs, and 10 times greater than the energy density of lithium-ion batteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon nanotube supported catalyst</span> Novel catalyst using carbon nanotubes as the support instead of the conventional alumina

Carbon nanotube supported catalyst is a novel supported catalyst, using carbon nanotubes as the support instead of the conventional alumina or silicon support. The exceptional physical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) such as large specific surface areas, excellent electron conductivity incorporated with the good chemical inertness, and relatively high oxidation stability makes it a promising support material for heterogeneous catalysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boron nitride nanotube</span> Polymorph of boron nitride

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are a polymorph of boron nitride. They were predicted in 1994 and experimentally discovered in 1995. Structurally they are similar to carbon nanotubes, which are cylinders with sub-micrometer diameters and micrometer lengths, except that carbon atoms are alternately substituted by nitrogen and boron atoms. However, the properties of BN nanotubes are very different: whereas carbon nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting depending on the rolling direction and radius, a BN nanotube is an electrical insulator with a bandgap of ~5.5 eV, basically independent of tube chirality and morphology. In addition, a layered BN structure is much more thermally and chemically stable than a graphitic carbon structure. BNNTs have unique physical and chemical properties, when compared to Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) providing a very wide range of commercial and scientific applications. Although BNNTs and CNTs share similar tensile strength properties of circa 100 times stronger than steel and 50 times stronger than industrial-grade carbon fibre, BNNTs can withstand high temperatures of up to 900 °C. as opposed to CNTs which remain stable up to temperatures of 400 °C, and are also capable of absorbing radiation. BNNTS are packed with physicochemical features including high hydrophobicity and considerable hydrogen storage capacity and they are being investigated for possible medical and biomedical applications, including gene delivery, drug delivery, neutron capture therapy, and more generally as biomaterials BNNTs are also superior to CNTs in the way they bond to polymers giving rise to many new applications and composite materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synthesis of carbon nanotubes</span> Class of manufacturing

Techniques have been developed to produce carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in sizable quantities, including arc discharge, laser ablation, high-pressure carbon monoxide disproportionation, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Most of these processes take place in a vacuum or with process gases. CVD growth of CNTs can occur in a vacuum or at atmospheric pressure. Large quantities of nanotubes can be synthesized by these methods; advances in catalysis and continuous growth are making CNTs more commercially viable.

In materials science, vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays (VANTAs) are a unique microstructure consisting of carbon nanotubes oriented with their longitudinal axis perpendicular to a substrate surface. These VANTAs effectively preserve and often accentuate the unique anisotropic properties of individual carbon nanotubes and possess a morphology that may be precisely controlled. VANTAs are consequently widely useful in a range of current and potential device applications.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kaczor, Bill (2008-10-17). "Future planes, cars may be made of 'buckypaper'". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  2. in het Panhuis M, Salvador-Morales C, Franklin E, Chambers G, Fonseca A, Nagy JB (2003). "Characterization of an Interaction between Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes and an Enzyme". Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. 3 (3): 209–13. doi:10.1166/jnn.2003.187. PMID   14503402.
  3. Sun J, Gao L (2003). "Development of a dispersion process for carbon nanotubes in ceramic matrix by heterocoagulation". Carbon. 41 (5): 1063–1068. Bibcode:2003Carbo..41.1063S. doi:10.1016/S0008-6223(02)00441-4.
  4. Vohrer U, Kolaric I, Haque MH, Roth S, Detlaff-Weglikowska U (2004). "Carbon nanotube sheets for the use as artificial muscles". Carbon. 42 (5–6): 1159–1164. Bibcode:2004Carbo..42.1159V. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2003.12.044.
  5. Cornett JB, Shockman GD (1978). "Cellular lysis of Streptococcus faecalis induced with triton X-100". Journal of Bacteriology. 135 (1): 153–60. doi:10.1128/jb.135.1.153-160.1978. PMC   224794 . PMID   97265.
  6. Whitby R, Fukuda T, Maekawa T, James SL, Mikhalovsky SV (2008). "Geometric control and tuneable pore size distribution of buckypaper and buckydiscs". Carbon. 46 (6): 949–956. Bibcode:2008Carbo..46..949W. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2008.02.028.
  7. Wang D, Song PC, Liu CH, Wu W, Fan SS (2008). "Highly oriented carbon nanotube papers made of aligned carbon nanotubes". Nanotechnology. 19 (7): 075609. Bibcode:2008Nanot..19g5609W. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/19/7/075609. PMID   21817646. S2CID   2529608.
  8. Susantyoko, Rahmat Agung; Karam, Zainab; Alkhoori, Sara; Mustafa, Ibrahim; Wu, Chieh-Han; Almheiri, Saif (2017). "A surface-engineered tape-casting fabrication technique toward the commercialisation of freestanding carbon nanotube sheets". Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 5 (36): 19255–19266. doi:10.1039/c7ta04999d. ISSN   2050-7488.
  9. Kim, Keun Su; Jakubinek, Michael B.; Martinez-Rubi, Yadienka; Ashrafi, Behnam; Guan, Jingwen; O'Neill, K.; Plunkett, Mark; Hrdina, Amy; Lin, Shuqiong; Dénommée, Stéphane; Kingston, Christopher; Simard, Benoit (2015). "Polymer nanocomposites from free-standing, macroscopic boron nitride nanotube assemblies". RSC Adv. 5 (51): 41186–41192. Bibcode:2015RSCAd...541186K. doi:10.1039/C5RA02988K.
  10. Zhao, Zhongfu; Gou, Jan (2009). "Improved fire retardancy of thermoset composites modified with carbon nanofibers". Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. 10 (1): 015005. Bibcode:2009STAdM..10a5005Z. doi:10.1088/1468-6996/10/1/015005. PMC   5109595 . PMID   27877268.
  11. Susantyoko, Rahmat Agung; Parveen, Fathima; Mustafa, Ibrahim; Almheiri, Saif (2018-05-16). "MWCNT/activated-carbon freestanding sheets: a different approach to fabricate flexible electrodes for supercapacitors". Ionics. 25: 265–273. doi:10.1007/s11581-018-2585-4. ISSN   0947-7047. S2CID   104278214.
  12. Susantyoko, Rahmat Agung; Karam, Zainab; Alkhoori, Sara; Mustafa, Ibrahim; Wu, Chieh-Han; Almheiri, Saif (2017). "A surface-engineered tape-casting fabrication technique toward the commercialisation of freestanding carbon nanotube sheets". Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 5 (36): 19255–19266. doi:10.1039/c7ta04999d. ISSN   2050-7488.
  13. Karam, Zainab; Susantyoko, Rahmat Agung; Alhammadi, Ayoob; Mustafa, Ibrahim; Wu, Chieh-Han; Almheiri, Saif (2018-02-26). "Development of Surface-Engineered Tape-Casting Method for Fabricating Freestanding Carbon Nanotube Sheets Containing Fe2O3 Nanoparticles for Flexible Batteries". Advanced Engineering Materials. 20 (6): 1701019. doi:10.1002/adem.201701019. ISSN   1438-1656. S2CID   139283096.
  14. Susantyoko, Rahmat Agung; Alkindi, Tawaddod Saif; Kanagaraj, Amarsingh Bhabu; An, Boohyun; Alshibli, Hamda; Choi, Daniel; AlDahmani, Sultan; Fadaq, Hamed; Almheiri, Saif (2018). "Performance optimization of freestanding MWCNT-LiFePO4 sheets as cathodes for improved specific capacity of lithium-ion batteries". RSC Advances. 8 (30): 16566–16573. Bibcode:2018RSCAd...816566S. doi: 10.1039/c8ra01461b . ISSN   2046-2069. PMC   9081850 . PMID   35540508.
  15. Mustafa, Ibrahim; Lopez, Ivan; Younes, Hammad; Susantyoko, Rahmat Agung; Al-Rub, Rashid Abu; Almheiri, Saif (March 2017). "Fabrication of Freestanding Sheets of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (Buckypapers) for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries and Effects of Fabrication Variables on Electrochemical Performance". Electrochimica Acta. 230: 222–235. doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2017.01.186. ISSN   0013-4686.
  16. Mustafa, Ibrahim; Bamgbopa, Musbaudeen O.; Alraeesi, Eman; Shao-Horn, Yang; Sun, Hong; Almheiri, Saif (2017-01-01). "Insights on the Electrochemical Activity of Porous Carbonaceous Electrodes in Non-Aqueous Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries". Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 164 (14): A3673–A3683. doi:10.1149/2.0621714jes. hdl: 1721.1/134874 . ISSN   0013-4651.
  17. Mustafa, Ibrahim; Al Shehhi, Asma; Al Hammadi, Ayoob; Susantyoko, Rahmat; Palmisano, Giovanni; Almheiri, Saif (May 2018). "Effects of carbonaceous impurities on the electrochemical activity of multiwalled carbon nanotube electrodes for vanadium redox flow batteries". Carbon. 131: 47–59. Bibcode:2018Carbo.131...47M. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2018.01.069. ISSN   0008-6223.