Towards large scale production and separation of carbon nanotubes

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dc.contributor.advisorTour, James M.en_US
dc.creatorAlvarez, Noe T.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2018-12-03T18:33:26Zen_US
dc.date.available2018-12-03T18:33:26Zen_US
dc.date.issued2009en_US
dc.description.abstractSince their discovery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have boosted the research and applications of nanotechnology; however, many applications of CNTs are inaccessible because they depend upon large-scale CNT production and separations. Type, chirality and diameter control of CNTs determine many of their physical properties, and such control is still not accesible. This thesis studies the fundamentals for scalable selective reactions of HiPCo CNTs as well as the early phase of routes to an inexpensive approach for large-scale CNT production. In the growth part, this thesis covers a complete wet-chemistry process of catalyst and catalyst support deposition for growth of vertically aligned (VA) CNTs. A wet-chemistry preparation process has significant importance for CNT synthesis through chemical vapor deposition (CVD). CVD is by far, the most suitable and inexpensive process for large-scale CNT production when compared to other common processes such as laser ablation and arc discharge. However, its potential has been limited by low-yielding and difficult preparation processes of catalyst and its support, therefore its competitiveness has been reduced. The wet-chemistry process takes advantage of current nanoparticle technology to deposit the catalyst and the catalyst support as a thin film of nanoparticles, making the protocol simple compared to electron beam evaporation and sputtering processes. In the CNT selective reactions part, this thesis studies UV irradiation of individually dispersed HiPCo CNTs that generates auto-selective reactions in the liquid phase with good control over their diameter and chirality. This technique is ideal for large-scale and continuous-process of separations of CNTs by diameter and type. Additionally, an innovative simple catalyst deposition through abrasion is demonstrated. Simple friction between the catalyst and the substrates deposit a high enough density of metal catalyst particles for successful CNT growth. This simple approach has potential for metal catalyst deposition to grow vertical array CNTs on large surface substrates as well as to develop nano- and micro-patterns of catalyst and CNT growth. The CNTs produced from abraded catalyst have similar qualities to CNTs synthesized from evaporated catalyst.en_US
dc.format.extent188 ppen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS CHEM. 2010 ALVAREZen_US
dc.identifier.citationAlvarez, Noe T.. "Towards large scale production and separation of carbon nanotubes." (2009) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/103747">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/103747</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.digital751536678en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/103747en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectOrganic chemistryen_US
dc.subjectPhysical chemistryen_US
dc.subjectNanotechnologyen_US
dc.subjectApplied sciencesen_US
dc.subjectPure sciencesen_US
dc.subjectCarbon nanotubesen_US
dc.subjectNanoparticle thin filmsen_US
dc.titleTowards large scale production and separation of carbon nanotubesen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentChemistryen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineNatural Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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