Brightsurf Science News and Current Science News Events

 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print Improved wettability of carbon nanotubes opens the door to new possibilities

Improved wettability of carbon nanotubes opens the door to new possibilities

November 26, 2007

Tailoring the wettability of carbon nanotube-based materials by plasma

Carbon nanotubes have long been touted as the wonder material of the future but their wonder properties can also be their downfall. The non reactive nature of carbon nanotubes means they can be difficult to incorporate into other materials for real world applications.




To this end, researchers have now extensively studied the wettability of carbon nanotubes in the form of powder, grown on a Si substrate and as CNT sheets or mats, or bucky paper.

The international research team of Uwe Vohrer, Justin Holmes, Zhonglai Li, AunShih Teh, Pagona Papakonstantinou, Manuel Ruether and Werner Blau, published their work in a special edition of the open access journal, AZoJono. This special edition of AZoJono* features a number of papers from DESYGN-IT, the project seeking to secure Europe as the international scientific leader in the design, synthesis, growth, characterisation and application of nanotubes, nanowires and nanotube arrays for industrial technology.

The researchers found that plasma polymerisation of a carbofluorine monomer onto a bucky paper leads to superhydrophobic surfaces. They also found that under gentle oxidation parameters the vertical alignment of multi wall nanotubes remains unchanged whereas more harsh conditions destroy the carbon nanotube shape without opening the end caps.

However, the most important finding was that when the carbon nanotube bucky papers were processed using a plasma treatment utilising oxygen containing process gases or post treatment reaction with oxygen after plasma activation they were able to convert the surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Suitable treatments resulted in instant wetting and contact angles of less than 10° which could pave the way for carbon nanotube incorporation into many new applications as well as improved properties for those materials and application that already involve carbon nanotubes.

The complete article is available to view in AZoJono at http://www.azonano.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=2042

AZoNetwork



Related Carbon Nanotube News Articles Carbon Nanotube News and Current Carbon Nanotube Events RSS Carbon Nanotube News and Current Carbon Nanotube Events RSS
Researchers create the first thermal nanomotor in the world
Researchers from the UAB Research Park have created the first nanomotor that is propelled by changes in temperature. A carbon nanotube is capable of transporting cargo and rotating like a conventional motor, but is a million times smaller than the head of a needle.

Carbon nanotubes made into conductive, flexible 'stained glass'
Carbon nanotubes are promising materials for many high-technology applications due to their exceptional mechanical, thermal, chemical, optical and electrical properties.

Memory in artificial atoms
Three of our nano-physicists have made a discovery that can change the way we store data on our computers. This means that in the future we can store data much faster, and more accurate. Their discovery has been published in the scientific journal Nature Physics.

The future of computing -- carbon nanotubes and superconductors to replace the silicon chip
The future of computing is under the spotlight at the Institute of Physics' Condensed Matter and Materials Physics conference at the Royal Holloway College of the University of London on 26-28 March.

Carbon nanotubes outperform copper nanowires as interconnects
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a road map that brings academia and the semiconductor industry one step closer to realizing carbon nanotube interconnects, and alleviating the current bottleneck of information flow that is limiting the potential of computer chips in everything from personal computers to portable music players.

NRL scientists produce carbon nanotubes using commercially available polymeric resins
Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have successfully produced carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in high yields in bulk solid compositions using commercially available aromatic containing resins.

Researchers develop darkest manmade material
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Rice University have created the darkest material ever made by man.

World's Smallest Radio Fits in the Palm of the Hand . . . of an Ant
Harnessing the electrical and mechanical properties of the carbon nanotube, a team of researchers has crafted a working radio from a single fiber of that material.

Make Way for the Real Nanopod: Berkeley Researchers Create First Fully Functional Nanotube Radio
Make way for the real nanopod and make room in the Guinness World Records. A team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have created the first fully functional radio from a single carbon nanotube, which makes it by several orders of magnitude the smallest radio ever made.

World's smallest radio uses single nanotube to pick up good vibrations
Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, have built the smallest radio yet - a single carbon nanotube one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair that requires only a battery and earphones to tune in to your favorite station.
More Carbon Nanotube News Articles
Physical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes
by R. Saito


Carbon Nanotubes: Properties and Applications


Carbon Nanotubes: Science and Applications


Carbon Nanotubes: Advanced Topics in the Synthesis, Structure, Properties and Applications (Topics in Applied Physics)


Carbon Nanotubes: Basic Concepts and Physical Properties
by Stephanie Reich, Christian Thomsen, Janina Maultzsch


Physics of Carbon Nanotube Devices (Micro & Nano Technologies)
by Francois Leonard


Micromanufacturing and Nanotechnology
by N.P. Mahalik


Carbon Nanotubes and Related Structures
by Peter J. F. Harris


One-Dimensional Metals: Conjugated Polymers, Organic Crystals, Carbon Nanotubes
by Siegmar Roth, David Carroll


Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure, Properties and Applications


© 2008 BrightSurf.com