Browsing by Author "Talmon, Yeshayahu"

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    Statistical Electron Microscopy, Rheometric Studies of Carbon Nanotube Solutions in Chlorosulfonic Acid and Characterization of Wire, Planar Antennas Manufactured from Macroscopic Carbon Nanotube Materials
    (2017-12-01) Bengio, Amram E.; Pasquali, Matteo; Talmon, Yeshayahu
    Ever since their discovery in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been a topic of active scientific research. These tubular molecules of graphitic carbon display a unique amalgamation of mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. However, their strong inter-molecular van der Waals attractions have limited the range of solvents that can be used to prepare CNT dispersions. This has stymied efforts geared towards scaling up processing of CNT materials. The work reported here relies on the dispersion of CNTs in a true solvent: chlorosulfonic acid. This thesis focuses firstly on the development of statistical electron microscopy techniques to quantitatively estimate the length distribution of CNTs and qualitatively assess the alignment of CNTs in solution. Secondly, a rheometric study of the CNT fluid phase is presented, with an emphasis on relaxation dynamics of the CNT network and liquid crystalline phase. Finally, wire and planar antennas manufactured from fiber spinning and shear-coating of these CNT solutions are designed and their performance is shown to match that of equivalent copper antennas at frequencies suited for wireless communication.
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    Strong, Light, Multifunctional Fibers of Carbon Nanotubes with Ultrahigh Conductivity
    (AAAS, 2013) Behabtu, Natnael; Young, Colin C.; Tsentalovich, Dmitri E.; Kleinerman, Olga; Wang, Xuan; Ma, Anson W.K.; Bengio, E. Amram; ter Waarbeek, Ron F.; de Jong, Jorrit J.; Hoogerwerf, Ron E.; Fairchild, Steven B.; Ferguson, John B.; Maruyama, Benji; Kono, Junichiro; Talmon, Yeshayahu; Cohen, Yachin; Otto, Marcin J.; Pasquali, Matteo; Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Chemistry; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Physics and Astronomy; Smalley-Curl Institute
    Broader applications of carbon nanotubes to real-world problems have largely gone unfulfilled because of difficult material synthesis and laborious processing. We report high-performance multifunctional carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers that combine the specific strength, stiffness, and thermal conductivity of carbon fibers with the specific electrical conductivity of metals. These fibers consist of bulk-grown CNTs and are produced by high-throughput wet spinning, the same process used to produce high-performance industrial fibers. These scalable CNT fibers are positioned for high-value applications, such as aerospace electronics and field emission, and can evolve into engineered materials with broad long-term impact, from consumer electronics to long-range power transmission.
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    Surfactant-assisted individualization and dispersion of boron nitride nanotubes
    (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019) McWilliams, Ashleigh D. Smith; Reyes, Carlos A. de los; Liberman, Lucy; Ergülen, Selin; Talmon, Yeshayahu; Pasquali, Matteo; A. Martí, Angel; Bioengineering; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Chemistry; Materials Science and Nanoengineering
    Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) belong to a novel class of material with useful thermal, electronic and optical properties. However, the study and the development of applications of this material requires the formation of stable dispersions of individual BNNTs in water. Here we address the dispersion of BNNT material in water using surfactants with varying properties. The surfactants were compared based on the quantity of BNNTs dispersed and the quality of the dispersions, as visualized by AFM and cryo-TEM. All surfactants produce dispersions of individualized or small bundles of BNNTs. Of the surfactants tested, high molecular weight, nonionic surfactants suspend the most BNNTs, while ionic surfactants remove the most h-BN impurities. The surfactant dispersions were further characterized by ensemble measurements, such as UV absorption and photoluminescence, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and zeta potential to investigate dispersion stability and quality. These techniques provide a facile strategy for testing future BNNT dispersions. The results of this study reveal that BNNT dispersions in aqueous solution can be tuned to fit a specific application through surfactant selection.
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    Versatile acid solvents for pristine carbon nanotube assembly
    (AAAS, 2022) Headrick, Robert J.; Williams, Steven M.; Owens, Crystal E.; Taylor, Lauren W.; Dewey, Oliver S.; Ginestra, Cedric J.; Liberman, Lucy; Ya’akobi, Asia Matatyaho; Talmon, Yeshayahu; Maruyama, Benji; McKinley, Gareth H.; Hart, A. John; Pasquali, Matteo; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Chemistry; Materials Science and Nanoengineering; Smalley-Curl Institute; Carbon Hub
    Chlorosulfonic acid and oleum are ideal solvents for enabling the transformation of disordered carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into precise and highly functional morphologies. Currently, processing these solvents using extrusion techniques presents complications due to chemical compatibility, which constrain equipment and substrate material options. Here, we present a novel acid solvent system based on methanesulfonic or p-toluenesulfonic acids with low corrosivity, which form true solutions of CNTs at concentrations as high as 10 g/liter (≈0.7 volume %). The versatility of this solvent system is demonstrated by drop-in application to conventional manufacturing processes such as slot die coating, solution spinning continuous fibers, and 3D printing aerogels. Through continuous slot coating, we achieve state-of-the-art optoelectronic performance (83.6 %T and 14 ohm/sq) at industrially relevant production speeds. This work establishes practical and efficient means for scalable processing of CNT into advanced materials with properties suitable for a wide range of applications.