We investigated the effect of diameter and content of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the physical properties of styrenebutadiene rubber (SBR)/CNTs nanocomposites. CNTs-reinforced SBR nanocomposites were prepared by the melt mixing process. CNTs with different diameters were synthesized by the chemical vapor deposition method (CVD). In this work, the mechanical property and other physical properties of SBR/CNTS nanocomposites were discussed as a function of the content and diameter of CNTs.
We investigated the effects of Co doping on the NO gas sensing characteristics of ZnO-carbon nanotube (ZnO-CNT) layered composites fabricated by coaxial coating of single-walled CNTs with ZnO using pulsed laser deposition. Structural examinations clearly confirmed a distinct nanostructure of the CNTs coated with ZnO nanoparticles of an average diameter as small as 10 nm and showed little influence of doping 1 at.% Co into ZnO on the morphology of the ZnO-CNT composites. It was found from the gas sensing measurements that 1 at.% Co doping into ZnO gave rise to a significant improvement in the response of the ZnO-CNT composite sensor to NO gas exposure. In particular, the Co-doped ZnO-CNT composite sensor shows a highly sensitive and fast response to NO gas at relatively low temperatures and even at low NO concentrations. The observed significant improvement of the NO gas sensing properties is attributed to an increase in the specific surface area and the role as a catalyst of the doped Co elements. These results suggest that Co-doped ZnOCNT composites are suitable for use as practical high-performance NO gas sensors.
The field emitters were fabricated by screen-printing of carbon nanotube paste, and their emission stabilities were evaluated. It was found that the emission stability measured in a sealed device is much higher than that measured in a vacuum chamber in spite of similar pressure. This was because oxygen gas was scarcely remained in the sealed device, while the gas is continuously supplied into the vacuum chamber during the stability measurement. It was found that the plasma treatment etched the protruded CNTs, resulting in the uniform height of CNT tips. As a result, the stability was increased remarkably. It was also found that the stability of CNT paste emitter was improved by electrical aging and that the optimum condition for the aging was varied with the size of emitter.
Carbon nanotubes (CNT) were used as a catalyst support where catalytically active Pd and Pt metalparticles decorated the outside of the external CNT walls. In this study, Pd and Pt nanoparticles supportedon HNO3-treated CNT were prepared by microwave-assisted heating of the polyol process using PdCl2 andH2PtCl6•6H2O precursors, respectively, and were then characterized by SEM, TEM, and Raman. Ramanspectroscopy showed that the acid treated CNT had a higher intensity ratio of ID/IG compared to that of non-treated CNT, indicating the formation of defects or functional groups on CNT after chemical oxidation.Microwave irradiation for total two minutes resulted in the formation of Pd and Pt nanoparticles on the acidtreated CNT. The sizes of Pd and Pt nanoparticles were found to be less than 10nm and 3nm, respectively.Furthermore, the SnO2 films doped with CNT decorated by Pd and Pt nanoparticles were prepared, and thenthe NO2 gas response of these sensor films was evaluated under 1~5ppm NO2 concentration at 200oC. It wasfound that the sensing property of the SnO2 film sensor on NO2 gas was greatly improved by the addition ofCNT-supported Pd and Pt nanoparticles.
We measured the non-carbon content of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in SWCNT soot using thermogravimetric analysis. The weight increased percentage by the oxidation of metal in the raw soot is well obtained by TGA graph which was confirmed with ICP-AES, XRD, and XPS. This work will be very useful for the purity precise evaluation of SWCNT with UN-vis-NIR spectroscopy.
We measured the degree of macrodispersion of the various single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using UV-VIS-NIR absorption spectroscopy. CNTs were dispersed with SDS of 2 wt % in deionized water using the homogenizer and then were further centrifugated at 6000 g for 10 min. The degree of macrodispersion, expressed by Dm(λ)=Aa(λ)/Ab(λ)*100 (%), where λ is the wavelength and Aa(λ) and Ab(λ) are the absorbance of the sample after and before centrifugation, respectively. In the case of MWCNTs, we evaluated the degree of macrodispersion by the average degree of macrodispersion (Dm(λ)) between 1000 and 1200 nm. The degree of macrodispersion of SWCNTs was evaluated at the wavelength in which van Hove singularity-related transition regions were excluded, i.e., the range was chosen between E11S and E22S peaks. We have estimated six samples with the same method. The standard deviation of each sample was lower than 5. Therefore, we presented a reliable evaluation method for the macrodispersion of CNTs for standardization.
We propose an evaluation method of the relative content of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) in SWCNT soot synthesized by arc discharge using UV-VIS-NIR absorption spectroscopy. In this method, we consider the absorbance of semiconducting and metallic SWCNTs together to calculate the relative content of SWCNTs with respect to a highly purified reference. Our method provides the more reliable and realistic evaluation of SWCNT content with respect to the whole carbonaceous content than the previously reported method.
The NO gas sensing properties of ZnO-carbon nanotube (ZnO-CNT) composites fabricated by the coaxial coating of single-walled CNTs with ZnO were investigated using pulsed laser deposition. Upon examination, the morphology and crystallinity of the ZnO-CNT composites showed that CNTs were uniformly coated with polycrystalline ZnO with a grain size as small as 5-10 nm. Gas sensing measurements clearly indicated a remarkable enhancement of the sensitivity of ZnO-CNT composites for NO gas compared to that of ZnO films while maintaining the strong sensing stability of the composites, properties that CNT-based sensing materials do not have. The enhanced gas sensing properties of the ZnO-CNT composites are attributed to an increase in the surface adsorption area of the ZnO layer via the coating by CNTs of a high surface-to-volume ratio structure. These results suggest that the ZnO-CNT composite is a promising template for novel solid-state semiconducting gas sensors.
Carbon nanotube (CNT)/ composites were synthesized to enhance the hydrogen storage properties. The emphasis was made on the effect of different shortening methods of CNTs on the open-tip structure and the resulting properties. The use of open CNTs as a starting material resulted in an enhanced hydrogen properties of CNT/ composites. Among the employed methods for the shortening of CNTs, wet milling using ethanol was the most efficient, while ultrasonic acid treatment or thermal decomposition resulted in a less hydrogen storage capacity.
The effects of the field emission property in relation to the surface morphology and adhesion force were investigated. The single-wall-nanotube-based cathode was obtained by use of an in-situ arc discharge synthesis method, a screen-printing method and a spray method. The morphologies of the formed emitter layers were very different. The emission stability and uniformity were dramatically improved by employing an in-situ arc discharge synthesis method. In this study, it was confirmed that the current stability and uniformity of the field emission of the cathode depend on the surface morphology and adhesion force of the emitters. The current stability of the field emission device was also studied through an electrical aging process by varying the current and electric field.
A simple method to deposit carbon nanotube films uniformly on large area substrates using an arc discharge method is reported in this paper. The arc discharge method was modified to deposit carbon nanotube films in situ on the substrates. The substrates were scanned several times over the arcing point for a uniform film thickness. Deposition was carried out under variable dc bias conditions at 600 torr of H2 gas. The thickness uniformity of the single-wall carbon nanotube films as characterized by a four-point probe was within 30% deviation. The morphology and crystal quality of the single-wall carbon nanotube film were also characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.
Carbon nanotube (CNT) cathodes were fabricated using nano-sized silver (Ag) powders as a bonding material between the CNTs and cathode electrodes. The effects of the powder size on the sintering behavior, the current density and emission image for CNT cathodes were investigated. As the diameter of the Ag powders decreases to 10 nm, the sintering temperature of the CNT cathode was lowered primarily due to the higher specific surface area of the Ag powders. In this study, it was demonstrated that nano-sized Ag powders can be feasibly used as a bonding material for a screen-printed CNT cathode, yielding a high current density and a uniform emission image.
In this study, in order to easily provide functional groups on the surface of carbon nanotubes, dual structural multiwalled carbon nanotubes which have crystalline graphite and turbostratic carbon wall were synthesized by modified vertical thermal decomposition method. Synthesized dual structural MWCNTs were characterized by FE-SEM, TGA, HR-TEM, Raman spectroscopy and BET specific surface area analyzer. The average innermost and outermost diameters of the synthesized nanotubes were around 45 and 75 nm, respectively. The large empty inner space and the presence of graphitic carbons on the surface may open potential applications for gas storage and collection of hazardous materials.
We investigated on the additive effect of carbon nanotube in the sulfur electrode on the first discharge curve and cycling property of lithium/sulfur cell. The sulfur electrode with carbon nanotube had two discharge plateau potentials and the first discharge capacity about 1200 mAh/g sulfur. The addition carbon nanotube into the sulfur electrode did not affect the first discharge behavior, but improved the cycling property of lithium/sulfur cell. The optimum content of carbon nanotube was 6 wt% of sulfur electrode
The preparation of metallic glass composite powders was accomplished by the mechanical alloying of a pure Ti, Cu, Ni, Sn and carbon nanotube (CNT) powder mixture after 8 h milling. In the ball-milled composites, the initial CNT particles were dissolved in the Ti-based alloy glassy matrix. The bulk metallic glass composite was successfully prepared by vacuum hot pressing the as-milled CNT/ metallic glass composite powders. A significant hardness increase with the CNT additions was observed for the consolidated composite compacts.
In this study, bottom-up type powder processing and top-down type SPD (severe plastic deformation) approaches were combined in order to achieve full density of Carbon nanotube (CNT)/metal matrix composites with superior mechanical properties by improved particle bonding and least grain growth, which were considered as a bottle neck of the bottom-up method using the conventional powder metallurgy of compaction and sintering. ECAP (equal channel angular pressing), the most promising method in SPD, was used for the CNT/Cu powder consolidation. The powder ECAP processing with 1, 2, 4 and 8 route C passes was conducted at room temperature.
Carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced hydroxyapatite (HAp) composites were fabricated by using the spark plasma sintering process with surfactant modified CNT and HAp nano powder. Without the dependency on sintering temperature, the main crystal phase existed with the HAp phase although a few contents of (Tri calcium phosphate) phase were detected. The maximum fracture toughness, was obtained in the sample sintered at and on the fracture surface a typical intergranular fracture mode, as well as the pull-out pmhenomenon of CNT, was observed.