Browsing by Author "Saini, Rajesh Kumar"

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    Fibers of aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes and process for making the same
    (2006-10-24) Smalley, Richard E.; Saini, Rajesh Kumar; Sivarajan, Ramesh; Hauge, Robert H.; Davis, Virginia Angelica; Pasquali, Matteo; Ericson, Lars Martin; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    The present invention involves fibers of highly aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes and a process for making the same. The present invention provides a method for effectively dispersing single-wall carbon nanotubes. The process for dispersing the single-wall carbon nanotubes comprises mixing single-wall carbon nanotubes with 100% sulfuric acid or a superacid, heating and stirring under an inert, oxygen-free environment. The single-wall carbon nanotube/acid mixture is wet spun into a coagulant to form the single-wall carbon nanotube fibers. The fibers are recovered, washed and dried. The single-wall carbon nanotubes were highly aligned in the fibers, as determined by Raman spectroscopy analysis.
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    Macroscopic ordered assembly of carbon nanotubes
    (2004-09-14) Smalley, Richard E.; Colbert, Daniel T.; Smith, Kenneth A.; Walters, Deron A.; Casavant, Michael J.; Huffman, Chad; Yakobson, Boris I.; Hauge, Robert H.; Saini, Rajesh Kumar; Chiang, Wan-Ting; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    The present invention is directed to the creation of macroscopic materials and objects comprising aligned nanotube segments. The invention entails aligning single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) segments that are suspended in a fluid medium and then removing the aligned segments from suspension in a way that macroscopic, ordered assemblies of SWNT are formed. The invention is further directed to controlling the natural proclivity of nanotube segments to self assemble into ordered structures by modifying the environment of the nanotubes and the history of that environment prior to and during the process. The materials and objects are “macroscopic” in that they are large enough to be seen without the aid of a microscope or of the dimensions of such objects. These macroscopic, ordered SWNT materials and objects have the remarkable physical, electrical, and chemical properties that SWNT exhibit on the microscopic scale because they are comprised nanotubes, each of which is aligned in the same direction and in contact with its nearest neighbors. An ordered assembly of closest SWNT also serves as a template for growth of more and larger ordered assemblies. An ordered assembly further serves as a foundation for post processing treatments that modify the assembly internally to specifically enhance selected material properties such as shear strength, tensile strength, compressive strength, toughness, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity.
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    Single-wall carbon nanotube alewives- process for making- and compositions thereof
    (2007-10-30) Smalley, Richard E.; Saini, Rajesh Kumar; Sivarajan, Ramesh; Hauge, Robert H.; Davis, Virginia Angelica; Pasquali, Matteo; Ericson, Lars Martin; Kumar, Satish; Veedu, Sreekumar Thaliyil; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    The present invention involves alewives of highly aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT), process for making the same and compositions thereof. The present invention provides a method for effectively making carbon alewives, which are discrete, acicular-shaped aggregates of aligned single-wall carbon nanotubes and resemble the Atlantic fish of the same name. Single-wall carbon nanotube alewives can be conveniently dispersed in materials such as polymers, ceramics, metals, metal oxides and liquids. The process for preparing the alewives comprises mixing single-wall carbon nanotubes with 100% sulfuric acid or a superacid, heating and stirring, and slowly introducing water into the single-wall carbon nanotube/acid mixture to form the alewives. The alewives can be recovered, washed and dried. The properties of the single-wall carbon nanotubes are retained in the alewives.