High precision mixtures for carbon nanotubes (CNT) development0 pages

MCQ Gas Blender 100 Series
High Performance Gas flow Dilutor & Gas flow Mixing System with User Interface
www.mcqinst.com Gas Blender 100 Series Application Note 1/3
Introduction
Nanotechnology field research represents today one of the
ultimate science frontier, as astonishing promising as
incredible hard to achieve. Nano-sized materials application
offers new exciting possibilities for revolutionary goal
achievements and for further development in almost every
scientific branch. What could only be imagined a few years
ago may now become real. In this new wave that’s getting
the future one step closer to modern science, Carbon
NanoTubes (CNTs) and related wide set of possible
applications represent one of the more complex, studied
and promising system.
Applications
Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon, organized in a
specific form called graphene, arranged in a cylindrical
nanostructure. The CNTs structure, related to the peculiar
atoms arrangement in space, gives CNTs the physical and
chemical unique properties on which the great scientific
interest grown around in the last decade. The simplest
CNTs space configuration is the single-walled nanotube
(SWNT) but structures made of different concentric
nanotubes nested within one another, called multi-walled
nanotubes (MWNT) can also be synthesized. These MWNT
are especially interesting due to their telescoping property
(inner nanotubes may slide, almost without friction, within its
outer shell) that makes them a perfect example of molecular
machine nanotechnology. Their structure makes CNTs the
strongest and stiffest material yet discovered in terms of
tensile strength and elastic modulus, while, due to their
hollow structure and high aspect ratio, they tend to undergo
buckling when, for example, placed under bending stress.
The CNTs graphene structure also strongly affects its
electrical properties, making them moderate semi-
Application Note
High precision mixtures for carbon
nanotubes (CNT) development
MCQ Gas Blender 100 Series CVD-related Application
conductors. Electrochemical properties for supercapacitor
applications are also well known. However, what makes
CNTs so extraordinary special its their dependence of
nanotubes size and aspect-ratio, changing what it’s possible
to manage and consequently tune CNTs features to desired
values. CNTs can be done at different lengths, angles and
curvatures resulting in an unparalleled tunable and versatile
material.
Process optimization
CTNs are currently synthesized using different deposition
techniques, particularly Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor
Deposition (PECVD) and Hot Filament Chemical Vapor
Deposition (HFCVD). Both have strengths and weaknesses
and there’s still a debate on which is best for CNTs
applications [1,2]. However both techniques follow the same
procedure steps for the nanotubes synthesis:
Substrate preparation: metal catalyst nanoparticles
(usually Ni, Co, Fe) are placed like a thin layer on the
substrate in order to act as nuclei for the CNTs grown.
High magnification carbon nanotubes micrograph