Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a nanostructure that can have a length-to-diameter ratio greater than 1,000,000. These cylindrical carbon molecules have novel properties that make them potentially useful in many applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science, as well as extensive use in arcology and other architectural fields. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat. Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized.
Nanotubes are members of the fullerene structural family, which also includes the spherical buckyballs. The cylindrical nanotube usually has at least one end capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure. Their name is derived from their size, since the diameter of a nanotube is in the order of a few nanometers (approximately 1/50,000th of the width of a human hair), while they can be up to several millimeters in length (as of 2008). Nanotubes are categorized as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).
The nature of the bonding of a nanotube is described by applied quantum chemistry, specifically, orbital hybridization. The chemical bonding of nanotubes is composed entirely of sp2 bonds, similar to those of graphite. This bonding structure, which is stronger than the sp3 bonds found in diamond, provides the molecules with their unique strength. Nanotubes naturally align themselves into "ropes" held together by Van der Waals forces. Under high pressure, nanotubes can merge together, trading some sp² bonds for sp³ bonds, giving the possibility of producing strong, unlimited-length wires through high-pressure nanotube linking.
Highly electrically conductive and optically transparent thin films were fabricated on conventional glass substrates using different purified carbon nanotubes, single-wall (SWNT), double-wall (DWNT), and multi-wall (MWNT) carbon nanotubes. The starting carbon nanotube materials were first made into homogenous solution with either sodium cholate or dimethylformamide. Two different fabrication approaches, airbrushing and membrane filtration methods, were used and compared. The chemical modification of thionyl chloride was employed to further improve the optical and electric performance of the SWNT films. Additionally, the temperature dependence of the resistance measured on carbon nanotube networks has been investigated.
Carbon nanotubes: Multifunctional advanced materials for technological applications Kurzfassung: A Spanish spin-off company based in Aragón (Spain) is specialised in the field of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The company focuses its R&D activity on macroscopic self-assembling of carbon nanotubes, development of homogeneous & stable dispersions, & new advanced multifunctional nanocomposites for a wide range of applications. The company has enormous know-how & experience. This spin-off offers its services & expertise to companies, technological centres & public centres.
Details: Background Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted great interest in the field of nanotechnology due to their outstanding properties & wide range of application possibilities. A very promising field is CNT-based electronic devices, such as flat-panel prototype devices, OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes), RAM memories, CNT-AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) tips, & CNT-SEM/TEM (Scanning Electron Microscope/Transmission Electron Microscope) microscope tips. It is expected that CNT-based devices will enter into various applications of daily life such as parts of cars, intelligent textiles, & sport articles (there are already commercial products like golf-clubs, tennis-rackets, bicycle-wings, etc.). The incorporation of CNTs into polymers or additives & their use as advanced functional composite materials will get the biggest share in CNT-based products & applications.
The Company This was the starting point for the creation of a spin-off company of the Instituto de Carboquímica (ICB-CSIC) in Zaragoza, Spain. This company possesses great expertise in CNT key-technologies: macroscopic assembling of CNTs, homogeneous & stable CNT dispersions, & multifunctional CNT-based nanocomposite materials for a wide range of applications in areas of different technological interest. The objective of the company is to offer solutions to companies in order to improve their existing products or to develop novel high-performance products.
The company won the IDEA2004 prize in June 2005 & has more than 10 years R&D experience in the field of CNTs, covering the fields of production, purification, functionalisation, & synthesis of polymer nanocomposites. The company also forms part of the Zaragoza On-Campus Composite network, which includes the University of Zaragoza & a company with more than 24 years experience in the area of reinforced plastic materials.
Products & Services The continuous need for renovation required by the market in order to improve or maintain competitiveness is the common factor of companies working in the fields of coatings, polymer additives, or in general with polymer materials.
The company is a unique mediator, which combines a dynamic team, expertise, technology, thus making available its differentiate advantage: the capacity to generate knowledge & create technology in the field of CNTs via constant & intensive R&D work in - Development of CNT dispersions compatible with different matrix materials. - Development of CNT-based nanocomposites with improved functional properties.
The company offers to its clients a variety of options of R&D works in CNTs tailored to the needs of the customers: - Feasibility studies - R&D services (short, medium & long-term) - Analysis & characterisation service - Consulting - Participation in & development of national & international R&D projects - Technology transfer
Service Advantages - Integral service with complete R&D infrastructure for elaborating its R&D projects, which includes laboratories with the most modern instrumental techniques. - Impartial consulting: the company offers impartial knowledge in the field of CNT-based materials, since they do not perform the industrial fabrication of nanomaterials. - Continuous consulting service through its experienced team, which helps to find specific solutions to their clients problems. - Highly competitive prices, because of being a spin-off company associated to a public R&D research group. - Time-efficient answers to the needs of the clients.
The company offers its expertise for the development & implementation of new applications & is looking for companies to establish commercial agreements with technical assistance, technical cooperation or financing.
Innovative Aspects: The company offers innovative solutions in the field of novel materials through its intensive R&D efforts in CNT key technologies: CNT dispersions in dissolutions & matrix materials as well as the development of novel CNT-based nanocomposites with advanced multifunctional properties for different applications (plastic electronics, sensors, biosensors, optics, coating materials, intelligent textiles, etc.).
Main Advantages: CNTs present extraordinary properties that include remarkable tensile strength, superb electrical conductivity & high chemical stability. They are key to a vast number of potential applications in many different areas (nanoelectronic devices, field emitters, chemical & biological sensors, scanning probe microscopy, energy storage devices, catalysts, etc).
The incorporation of CNTs into polymers or additives & their use as advanced functional composite materials will get the biggest share in CNT-based products & applications. It is predicted that carbon-nanotube-based nanocomposites, added value materials of high performance, will be the main growing segment in the plastic & adhesive industry.
The use of CNT in composites is producing a great impact in the field of advanced materials by enhancing their properties & even adding new functionalities.
3 comments:
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a nanostructure that can have a length-to-diameter ratio greater than 1,000,000. These cylindrical carbon molecules have novel properties that make them potentially useful in many applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science, as well as extensive use in arcology and other architectural fields. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat. Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized.
Nanotubes are members of the fullerene structural family, which also includes the spherical buckyballs. The cylindrical nanotube usually has at least one end capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure. Their name is derived from their size, since the diameter of a nanotube is in the order of a few nanometers (approximately 1/50,000th of the width of a human hair), while they can be up to several millimeters in length (as of 2008). Nanotubes are categorized as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).
The nature of the bonding of a nanotube is described by applied quantum chemistry, specifically, orbital hybridization. The chemical bonding of nanotubes is composed entirely of sp2 bonds, similar to those of graphite. This bonding structure, which is stronger than the sp3 bonds found in diamond, provides the molecules with their unique strength. Nanotubes naturally align themselves into "ropes" held together by Van der Waals forces. Under high pressure, nanotubes can merge together, trading some sp² bonds for sp³ bonds, giving the possibility of producing strong, unlimited-length wires through high-pressure nanotube linking.
Highly electrically conductive and optically transparent thin films were fabricated on conventional glass substrates using different purified carbon nanotubes, single-wall (SWNT), double-wall (DWNT), and multi-wall (MWNT) carbon nanotubes. The starting carbon nanotube materials were first made into homogenous solution with either sodium cholate or dimethylformamide. Two different fabrication approaches, airbrushing and membrane filtration methods, were used and compared. The chemical modification of thionyl chloride was employed to further improve the optical and electric performance of the SWNT films. Additionally, the temperature dependence of the resistance measured on carbon nanotube networks has been investigated.
Carbon nanotubes: Multifunctional advanced materials for technological applications
Kurzfassung: A Spanish spin-off company based in Aragón (Spain) is specialised in the field of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The company focuses its R&D activity on macroscopic self-assembling of carbon nanotubes, development of homogeneous & stable dispersions, & new advanced multifunctional nanocomposites for a wide range of applications. The company has enormous know-how & experience. This spin-off offers its services & expertise to companies, technological centres & public centres.
Details: Background
Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted great interest in the field of nanotechnology due to their outstanding properties & wide range of application possibilities. A very promising field is CNT-based electronic devices, such as flat-panel prototype devices, OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes), RAM memories, CNT-AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) tips, & CNT-SEM/TEM (Scanning Electron Microscope/Transmission Electron Microscope) microscope tips. It is expected that CNT-based devices will enter into various applications of daily life such as parts of cars, intelligent textiles, & sport articles (there are already commercial products like golf-clubs, tennis-rackets, bicycle-wings, etc.). The incorporation of CNTs into polymers or additives & their use as advanced functional composite materials will get the biggest share in CNT-based products & applications.
The Company
This was the starting point for the creation of a spin-off company of the Instituto de Carboquímica (ICB-CSIC) in Zaragoza, Spain. This company possesses great expertise in CNT key-technologies: macroscopic assembling of CNTs, homogeneous & stable CNT dispersions, & multifunctional CNT-based nanocomposite materials for a wide range of applications in areas of different technological interest. The objective of the company is to offer solutions to companies in order to improve their existing products or to develop novel high-performance products.
The company won the IDEA2004 prize in June 2005 & has more than 10 years R&D experience in the field of CNTs, covering the fields of production, purification, functionalisation, & synthesis of polymer nanocomposites. The company also forms part of the Zaragoza On-Campus Composite network, which includes the University of Zaragoza & a company with more than 24 years experience in the area of reinforced plastic materials.
Products & Services
The continuous need for renovation required by the market in order to improve or maintain competitiveness is the common factor of companies working in the fields of coatings, polymer additives, or in general with polymer materials.
The company is a unique mediator, which combines a dynamic team, expertise, technology, thus making available its differentiate advantage: the capacity to generate knowledge & create technology in the field of CNTs via constant & intensive R&D work in
- Development of CNT dispersions compatible with different matrix materials.
- Development of CNT-based nanocomposites with improved functional properties.
The company offers to its clients a variety of options of R&D works in CNTs tailored to the needs of the customers:
- Feasibility studies
- R&D services (short, medium & long-term)
- Analysis & characterisation service
- Consulting
- Participation in & development of national & international R&D projects
- Technology transfer
Service Advantages
- Integral service with complete R&D infrastructure for elaborating its R&D projects, which includes laboratories with the most modern instrumental techniques.
- Impartial consulting: the company offers impartial knowledge in the field of CNT-based materials, since they do not perform the industrial fabrication of nanomaterials.
- Continuous consulting service through its experienced team, which helps to find specific solutions to their clients problems.
- Highly competitive prices, because of being a spin-off company associated to a public R&D research group.
- Time-efficient answers to the needs of the clients.
The company offers its expertise for the development & implementation of new applications & is looking for companies to establish commercial agreements with technical assistance, technical cooperation or financing.
Innovative Aspects:
The company offers innovative solutions in the field of novel materials through its intensive R&D efforts in CNT key technologies: CNT dispersions in dissolutions & matrix materials as well as the development of novel CNT-based nanocomposites with advanced multifunctional properties for different applications (plastic electronics, sensors, biosensors, optics, coating materials, intelligent textiles, etc.).
Main Advantages:
CNTs present extraordinary properties that include remarkable tensile strength, superb electrical conductivity & high chemical stability. They are key to a vast number of potential applications in many different areas (nanoelectronic devices, field emitters, chemical & biological sensors, scanning probe microscopy, energy storage devices, catalysts, etc).
The incorporation of CNTs into polymers or additives & their use as advanced functional composite materials will get the biggest share in CNT-based products & applications. It is predicted that carbon-nanotube-based nanocomposites, added value materials of high performance, will be the main growing segment in the plastic & adhesive industry.
The use of CNT in composites is producing a great impact in the field of advanced materials by enhancing their properties & even adding new functionalities.
Post a Comment