William Marsh Rice University

Houston Advanced Research Center

Other

Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.

Southwest Research Institute

Robert H Hauge

Richard E Smalley

John L Margrave

W Carter Kittrell

Peter James Boul

Chad Huffman

Edward T Mickelson

Daniel T Colbert

Jie Liu

Ken A Smith

Howard K Schmidt

Irene Morin Marek, Legal Representative

James Mitchell Tour

Ramesh Sivarajan

Matteo Pasquali

Ya-Qiong Xu

Michael S Strano

Zhenning Gu

Kirk Jeremy Ziegler

Yuhuang Wang

Christopher A Dyke

Myung Jong Kim

Virginia Angelica Davis

Rajesh Kumar Saini

Haiqing Peng

Monica Usrey

Paul Walter Barone

Donald E Patterson

Peter Willis

W Edward Billups

Wan-Ting Chiang

C Judith Chu

Cary L Pint

Sean T Pheasant

Hongwei Shan

Lars Martin Ericson

Feng Liang

Andrew Ross Barron

Anil Sadana

Kenneth A Smith

Ronald J Powell

Michael P Stewart

Elizabeth Whitsitt

Satish Kumar

Wen-Fang Hwang

Charles A Rey

Ramon Colorado, Jr

Kent Edward Coulter

Mary Lou Margrave, Legal Representative

George Phillip Hansen

Yilun Li

Yuemei Yang

Zhiwei Peng

Zheng Yan

Sergei M Bachilo

Nolan Walker Nicholas

Boris I Yakobson

R Bruce Weisman

Sreekumar Thaliyil Veedu

A Nicholas Parra-Vasquez

Robin E Anderson

Valerie C Moore

Pradeep K Rai

Shankar Krishnan

Douglas C Ogrin

Chenyu Pan

Urs Rauwald

Irene Marie Marek, Legal Representative

Daniel J Schmidt

Jonah Shaver

Terry Marriott

Pavel V Avramov

Wilber Carter Kittrell

Ingrid Stepanek-Basset

Noe Alvarez

A Nicholas G Parra-Vasquez

Carbon nanotubes grown on nanostructured flake substrates are disclosed. The nanostructured flake substrates include a catalyst support layer and at least one catalyst layer. Carbon nanotubes grown on the nanostructured flake substrates can have very high aspect ratios. Further, the carbon nanotubes can be aligned on the nanostructured flake substrates. Through routine optimization, the nanostructured flake substrates may be used to produce single-wall, double-wall, or multi-wall carbon nanotubes of various lengths and diameters. The nanostructured flake substrates produce very high yields of carbon nanotubes per unit weight of substrate. Methods for making the nanostructured flake substrates and for using the nanostructured flake substrates in carbon nanotube synthesis are disclosed.

Carbon nanotubes grown on nanostructured flake substrates and methods for production thereof

In some embodiments, the present disclosure pertains to methods of forming a reinforcing material by: (1) depositing a first material onto a catalyst surface; and (2) forming a second material on the catalyst surface, where the second material is derived from and associated with the first material. In some embodiments, the first material includes, without limitation, carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoribbons, boron nitride nanotubes, chalcogenide nanotubes, carbon onions, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the formed second material includes, without limitation, graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, chalcogenides, and combinations thereof. In additional embodiments, the methods of the present disclosure also include a step of separating the formed reinforcing material from the catalyst surface, and transferring the separated reinforcing material onto a substrate without the use of polymers. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to reinforcing materials formed by the aforementioned methods.

Rebar hybrid materials and methods of making the same

The present disclosure describes carbon nanotube arrays having carbon nanotubes grown directly on a substrate and methods for making such carbon nanotube arrays. In various embodiments, the carbon nanotubes may be covalently bonded to the substrate by nanotube carbon-substrate covalent bonds. The present carbon nanotube arrays may be grown on substrates that are not typically conducive to carbon nanotube growth by conventional carbon nanotube growth methods. For example, the carbon nanotube arrays of the present disclosure may be grown on carbon substrates including carbon foil, carbon fibers and diamond. Methods for growing carbon nanotubes include a) providing a substrate, b) depositing a catalyst layer on the substrate, c) depositing an insulating layer on the catalyst layer, and d) growing carbon nanotubes on the substrate. Various uses for the carbon nanotube arrays are contemplated herein including, for example, electronic device and polymer composite applications.

Strongly bound carbon nanotube arrays directly grown on substrates and methods for production thereof

A method of forming a nanotube grid includes placing a plurality of catalyst nanoparticles on a grid framework, contacting the catalyst nanoparticles with a gas mixture that includes hydrogen and a carbon source in a reaction chamber, forming an activated gas from the gas mixture, heating the grid framework and activated gas, and controlling a growth time to generate a single-wall carbon nanotube array radially about the grid framework. A filter membrane may be produced by this method.

Production of single-walled carbon nanotube grids

We have discovered that size dependent solubility of large fullerenes in strong acids is dependent on acid strength. This provides a scalable method for separating large fullerenes by size. According to some embodiments, a method for processing a fullerene starting material comprises large fullerenes comprises mixing the starting material with a first concentrated sulfuric acid solution so as to obtain a first dispersion comprising a first portion of the large fullerenes solubilized in the first concentrated sulfuric acid solution.

Methods for solubilizing and separating large fullerenes

The present invention is directed towards methods (processes) of providing large quantities of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of defined diameter and chirality (i.e., precise populations). In such processes, CNT seeds of a pre-selected diameter and chirality are grown to many (e.g., hundreds) times their original length. This is optionally followed by cycling some of the newly grown material back as seed material for regrowth. Thus, the present invention provides for the large-scale production of precise populations of CNTs, the precise composition of such populations capable of being optimized for a particular application (e.g., hydrogen storage). The present invention is also directed to complexes of CNTs and transition metal catalyst precurors, such complexes typically being formed en route to forming CNT seeds.

Amplification of carbon nanotubes via seeded-growth methods

According to some embodiments, the present invention provides a method for attaining short carbon nanotubes utilizing electron beam irradiation, for example, of a carbon nanotube sample. The sample may be pretreated, for example by oxonation. The pretreatment may introduce defects to the sidewalls of the nanotubes. The method is shown to produces nanotubes with a distribution of lengths, with the majority of lengths shorter than 100 tun. Further, the median length of the nanotubes is between about 20 nm and about 100 nm.

Bulk cutting of carbon nanotubes using electron beam irradiation

A hot filament chemical vapor deposition method has been developed to grow at least one vertical single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT). In general, various embodiments of the present invention disclose novel processes for growing and/or producing enhanced nanotube carpets with decreased diameters as compared to the prior art.

Production of vertical arrays of small diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes

A new and useful nanotube growth substrate conditioning processes is herein disclosed that allows the growth of vertical arrays of carbon nanotubes where the average diameter of the nanotubes can be selected and/or controlled as compared to the prior art.

Carbon nanotube diameter selection by pretreatment of metal catalysts on surfaces

The present invention is directed toward methods of selectively functionalizing carbon nanotubes of a specific type or range of types, based on their electronic properties, using diazonium chemistry. The present invention is also directed toward methods of separating carbon nanotubes into populations of specific types or range(s) of types via selective functionalization and electrophoresis, and also to the novel compositions generated by such separations.

Methods for selective functionalization and separation of carbon nanotubes

This invention is directed to chemical derivatives of carbon nanotubes wherein the carbon nanotubes have a diameter up to 3 nm. In one embodiment, this invention also provides a method for preparing carbon nanotubes having substituents attached to the side wall of the nanotube by reacting single-wall carbon nanotubes with fluorine gas and recovering fluorine derivatized carbon nanotubes, then reacting fluorine derivatized carbon nanotubes with a nucleophile. Some of the fluorine substituents are replaced by nucleophilic substitution. If desired, the remaining fluorine can be completely or partially eliminated to produce carbon nanotubes having substituents attached to the side wall of the nanotube. The substituents are dependent on the nucleophile, and preferred nucleophiles include alkyl lithium species such as methyl lithium.

Sidewall derivatized carbon nanotubes

The present invention is directed to novel processes for the functionalization (derivatization) of carbon nanotubes and, as an extension, to fullerenes and other carbon surfaces. Generally, such processes involve reductive pathways. In some embodiments, carbon nanotubes are reacted with alkali metal and organic halides in anhydrous liquid ammonia. In other embodiments, polymers are grown from carbon nanotube sidewalls by reacting carbon nanotubes with alkali metal and monomer species in anhydrous liquid ammonia.

Reductive functionalization of carbon nanotubes

The present invention is directed to fibers of epitaxially grown single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and methods of making same. Such methods generally comprise the steps of: (a) providing a spun SWNT fiber; (b) cutting the fiber substantially perpendicular to the fiber axis to yield a cut fiber; (c) etching the cut fiber at its end with a plasma to yield an etched cut fiber; (d) depositing metal catalyst on the etched cut fiber end to form a continuous SWNT fiber precursor; and (e) introducing feedstock gases under SWNT growth conditions to grow the continuous SWNT fiber precursor into a continuous SWNT fiber.

Fibers comprised of epitaxially grown single-wall carbon nanotubes, and a method for added catalyst and continuous growth at the tip

The present invention relates to processes for the purification of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Known methods of single-wall carbon nanotube production result in a single-wall carbon nanotube product that contains single-wall carbon nanotubes in addition to impurities including residual metal catalyst particles and amounts of small amorphous carbon sheets that surround the catalyst particles and appear on the side of the single-wall carbon nanotubes. The present purification processes remove the extraneous carbon as well as metal-containing residual catalyst particles.

Multi-step purification of single-wall carbon nanotubes

The present invention is generally directed to catalyzed hot stamp methods for polishing and/or patterning carbon nanotube-containing substrates. In some embodiments, the substrate, as a carbon nanotube fiber end, is brought into contact with a hot stamp (typically at 200-800&#xb0; C.), and is kept in contact with the hot stamp until the morphology/patterns on the hot stamp have been transferred to the substrate. In some embodiments, the hot stamp is made of material comprising one or more transition metals (Fe, Ni, Co, Pt, Ag, Au, etc.), which can catalyze the etching reaction of carbon with H, CO, HO, and/or O. Such methods can (1) polish the carbon nanotube-containing substrate with a microscopically smooth finish, and/or (2) transfer pre-defined patterns from the hot stamp to the substrate. Such polished or patterned carbon nanotube substrates can find application as carbon nanotube electrodes, field emitters, and field emitter arrays for displays and electron sources.

Carbon nanotube substrates and catalyzed hot stamp for polishing and patterning the substrates

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Robert H Hauge