Multifunctional composites using reinforced laminae with carbon-nanotube forests

Traditional fibre-reinforced composite materials with excellent in-plane properties fare poorly when out-of-plane through-thickness properties are important. Composite architectures with fibres designed orthogonal to the two-dimensional (2D) layout in traditional composites could alleviate this weakness in the transverse direction, but all of the efforts so far have only produced limited success. Here, we unveil an approach to the 3D composite challenge, without altering the 2D stack design, on the basis of the concept of interlaminar carbon-nanotube forests that would provide enhanced multifunctional properties along the thickness direction. The carbon-nanotube forests allow the fastening of adjacent plies in the 3D composite. We grow multiwalled carbon nanotubes on the surface of micro-fibre fabric cloth layouts, normal to the fibre lengths, resulting in a 3D effect between plies under loading. These nanotube-coated fabric cloths serve as building blocks for the multilayered 3D composites, with the nanotube forests providing much-needed interlaminar strength and toughness under various loading conditions. For the fabricated 3D composites with nanotube forests, we demonstrate remarkable improvements in the interlaminar fracture toughness, hardness, delamination resistance, in-plane mechanical properties, damping, thermoelastic behaviour, and thermal and electrical conductivities making these structures truly multifunctional.     

Multifunctional periodic cellular metals

Periodic cellular metals with honeycomb and corrugated topologies are widely used for the cores of light weight sandwich panel structures. Honeycombs have closed cell pores and are well suited for thermal protection while also providing efficient load support. Corrugated core structures provide less efficient and highly anisotropic load support, but enable cross flow heat exchange opportunities because their pores are continuous in one direction. Recent advances in topology design and fabrication have led to the emergence of lattice truss structures with open cell structures. These three classes of periodic cellular metals can now be fabricated from a wide variety of structural alloys. Many topologies are found to provide adequate stiffness and strength for structural load support when configured as the cores of sandwich panels. Sandwich panels with core relative densities of 2-10% and cell sizes in the millimetre range are being assessed for use as multifunctional structures. The open, three-dimensional interconnected pore networks of lattice truss topologies provide opportunities for simultaneously supporting high stresses while also enabling cross flow heat exchange. These highly compressible structures also provide opportunities for the mitigation of high intensity dynamic loads created by impacts and shock waves in air or water. By filling the voids with polymers and hard ceramics, these structures have also been found to offer significant resistance to penetration by projectiles.     

Multifunctional design of prismatic cellular materials

Low density, prismatic cellular materials have a combination of properties that make them suitable for multifunctional or multi-physics applications such as ultralight load-bearing combined with energy absorption and heat transfer. In this work, non-uniform, graded cellular materials are designed to achieve superior thermal and structural performance. A general multifunctional design approach is presented that integrates multiobjective decision-making with multi-physics analysis tools of structural and heat transfer performance. Approximate analysis models for heat transfer and elastic stiffness are utilized to analyze designs efficiently. Search/solution algorithms are used to solve multiobjective decisions by interfacing with customized and commercial software. During the design process, cell topology is assumed to be rectangular, but aspect ratios and dimensions of cells and cell walls are varied. Two design scenarios are considered – maximum convective heat transfer and in-plane elastic stiffness in the first case and maximum convective heat transfer and elastic buckling strength in the second case. A portfolio of heat exchanger designs is generated with both periodic and functionally graded cells. Both single- and multi-objective performance are considered, and trade-offs are assessed between thermal and structural performance. Generalization of this approach is discussed for broader materials design applications in which material structures and processing paths are designed to achieve targeted properties and performance characteristics within a larger overall systems design process, and process-structure-property-performance relations are manifested on a hierarchy of length and time scales.     

Optimization of single-gate carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors

The performance of Schottky-barrier carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) critically depends on the device geometry. Asymmetric gate contacts, the drain and source contact thickness, and inhomogenous dielectrics above and below the nanotube influence the device operation. An optimizer has been used to extract geometries with steep subthreshold slope and high I/sub on//I/sub off/ ratio. It is found that the best performance improvements can be achieved using asymmetric gates centered above the source contact, where the optimum position and length of the gate contact varies with the oxide thickness. The main advantages of geometries with asymmetric gate contacts are the increased I/sub on//I/sub off/ ratio and the fact that the gate voltage required to attain minimum drain current is shifted toward zero, whereas symmetric geometries require V/sub g/=V/sub d//2. Our results suggest that the subthreshold slope of single-gate CNTFETs scales linearly with the gate-oxide thickness and can be reduced by a factor of two reaching a value below 100 mV/dec for devices with oxide thicknesses smaller than 5 nm by geometry optimization.     

Multifunctional protein microarrays for cultivation of cells and immunodetection of secreted cellular products

The microarray format is being used extensively for combinatorial screening of cellular interactions with proteins, small molecules, or biomaterials. The utility of microarray-based cell cultivation approaches may be enhanced further by incorporating biosensing elements alongside the cell-adhesive ligands to enable local detection of secreted cellular products. The concept of combining cells and sensing elements in the same microarray is demonstrated in the present paper with hepatocytes serving as a model cellular system. Robotic microarraying was employed to print arrays of 300-mum-diameter collagen (I) spots alongside the antibody (Ab) spots specific to liver proteins: albumin and alpha1-antitrypsin (alpha1-AT). Protein microarrays were printed onto poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel-coated glass slides, thus eliminating nonspecific adsorption of cells or proteins. When incubated with printed microarrays, hepatocytes became localized on collagen (I) domains but did not attach on Ab spots or elsewhere on hydrogel-coated glass substrates. Liver-specific proteins secreted by hepatocytes were captured on Ab domains in the immediate vicinity of the cells, detected with a sandwich immunofluorescent assay and quantified using a microarray scanner. Importantly, hepatic albumin and alpha1-AT production detected in the microarray was comparable to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measurements of these proteins. In the future, the juxtaposition of sensing Ab regions with cell arrays will be particularly useful for the detection of local appearance or loss of phenotype of cells interacting with the printed components of the cellular microenvironment.     

Temperature-mediated growth of single-walled carbon-nanotube intramolecular junctions

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) possess superior electronic and physical properties that make them ideal candidates for making next-generation electronic circuits that break the size limitation of current silicon-based technology. The first critical step in making a full SWNT electronic circuit is to make SWNT intramolecular junctions in a controlled manner. Although SWNT intramolecular junctions have been grown by several methods, they only grew inadvertently in most cases. Here, we report well-controlled temperature-mediated growth of intramolecular junctions in SWNTs. Specifically, by changing the temperature during growth, we found that SWNTs systematically form intramolecular junctions. This was achieved by a consistent variation in the SWNT diameter and chirality with changing growth temperature even though the catalyst particles remained the same. These findings provide a potential approach for growing SWNT intramolecular junctions at desired locations, sizes and orientations, which are important for making SWNT electronic circuits.     

High-frequency performance projections for ballistic carbon-nanotube transistors

A quasi-static approach is combined with a theory of ballistic nanotransistors to assess the high-frequency performance potential of carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors. A simple equivalent circuit, which applies in the ballistic limit of operation, is developed for the intrinsic device, and then employed to determine the behavior of the unity-current-gain frequency (f/sub T/) with gate voltage. The circuit is shown to reduce to the expected forms in the so-called "MOS" and "bipolar" limits. The f/sub T/ is shown to approach a maximum value of v/sub F//2/spl pi/L/spl ap/130 GHz/L (/spl mu/m) at high gate voltage, where v/sub F/ is the nanotube's Fermi velocity and L is the channel length, and to fall at low gate voltage due to the presence of source and drain electrostatic capacitances. The impact of the gate electrostatic capacitance on the f/sub T/ is also discussed. Numerical simulations on a "MOSFET-like" or "bulk-switched" carbon-nanotube transistor are shown to support the conclusions.     

Polymer-based carbon-nanotube film with reversible signal tracking capabilities

This study presents a polymer-based carbon-nanotube (CNT) sensing polymer with reversible signal tracking capabilities. The sensing polymer was prepared by dispersing multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) and silver nanoparticles into the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer matrix. Before curing the PDMS prepolymer, MWCNTs were aligned in the prepolymer, using the dielectrophoresis (DEP) technique. Under an external force, the polymer increased and retained resistivity, which could be recovered to its original value by repeating DEP. Similar resistivity behaviors induced by temperature elevation and DEP were also observed. This study also presents the measured performance and repeatability. The potential applications of the sensing polymer include reusable inertia switches, footstep tracking carpets, and temperature switches.     

High-kappa dielectrics for advanced carbon-nanotube transistors and logic gates

The integration of materials having a high dielectric constant (high-kappa) into carbon-nanotube transistors promises to push the performance limit for molecular electronics. Here, high-kappa (approximately 25) zirconium oxide thin-films (approximately 8 nm) are formed on top of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes by atomic-layer deposition and used as gate dielectrics for nanotube field-effect transistors. The p-type transistors exhibit subthreshold swings of S approximately 70 mV per decade, approaching the room-temperature theoretical limit for field-effect transistors. Key transistor performance parameters, transconductance and carrier mobility reach 6,000 S x m(-1) (12 microS per tube) and 3,000 cm2 x V(-1) x s(-1) respectively. N-type field-effect transistors obtained by annealing the devices in hydrogen exhibit S approximately 90 mV per decade. High voltage gains of up to 60 are obtained for complementary nanotube-based inverters. The atomic-layer deposition process affords gate insulators with high capacitance while being chemically benign to nanotubes, a key to the integration of advanced dielectrics into molecular electronics.     

Unique carbon-nanotube field-effect transistors with asymmetric source and drain contacts

We have fabricated a type of unique single-walled carbon nanotube field-effect transistor, in which the channel length is only 90 nm and aluminum and gold are used as its drain and source electrodes, respectively. The channel conductance oscillations caused by single-electron tunneling through the asymmetric barriers at the drain and source contacts are observed up to 100 K. Above 100 K, the tunneling fades away, and thermionic emission dominates the conductance at sufficiently negative gate voltages. At room temperature, the device shows diode-like characteristics with a maximum current rectification ratio of approximately 10(4).     

Chiral selectivity in the charge-transfer bleaching of single-walled carbon-nanotube spectra

Chiral selective reactivity and redox chemistry of carbon nanotubes are two emerging fields of nanoscience. These areas hold strong promise for producing methods for isolating nanotubes into pure samples of a single electronic type, and for reversible doping of nanotubes for electronics applications. Here, we study the selective reactivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes with organic acceptor molecules. We observe spectral bleaching of the nanotube electronic transitions consistent with an electron-transfer reaction occurring from the nanotubes to the organic acceptors. The reaction kinetics are found to have a strong chiral dependence, with rates being slowest for large-bandgap species and increasing for smaller-bandgap nanotubes. The chiral-dependent kinetics can be tuned to effectively freeze the reacted spectra at a fixed chiral distribution. Such tunable redox chemistry may be important for future applications in reversible non-covalent modification of nanotube electronic properties and in chiral selective separations.     

Enhanced ethanol production inside carbon-nanotube reactors containing catalytic particles

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have well-defined hollow interiors and exhibit unusual mechanical and thermal stability as well as electron conductivity. This opens intriguing possibilities to introduce other matter into the cavities, which may lead to nanocomposite materials with interesting properties or behaviour different from the bulk. Here, we report a striking enhancement of the catalytic activity of Rh particles confined inside nanotubes for the conversion of CO and H2 to ethanol. The overall formation rate of ethanol (30.0 mol mol(-1)Rh h(-1)) inside the nanotubes exceeds that on the outside of the nanotubes by more than an order of magnitude, although the latter is much more accessible. Such an effect with synergetic confinement has not been observed before in catalysis involving CNTs. We believe that our discovery may be of a quite general nature and could apply to many other processes. It is anticipated that this will motivate theoretical and experimental studies to further the fundamental understanding of the host-guest interaction within carbon and other nanotube systems.     

A model of carbon-nanotube growth-rate limitation on thin-film catalysts

It is experimentally established and theoretically justified that a decreasing growth rate of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on thin-film catalysts may be caused by the formation of intermetallic compounds that hinder supply of carbon from the bulk. In particular, the growth of CNTs on the Ti–Ni thin-film system is accompanied by the formation of a titanium carbide layer on the surface of a catalyst droplet. The kinetics of CNT growth under these conditions is calculated, and kinetic coefficients determining the growth rate are evaluated.     

Characterization of damping in carbon-nanotube filled fiberglass reinforced thermosetting-matrix composites

Use of carbon nanotubes as additives to composite parts for the purpose of increased damping has been the subject of much recent attention, owing to their large surface area per weight ratio which provides for frictional losses at the carbon nanotube–resin matrix interface. This article presents an experimental study to quantify the structural damping in composites due to the addition of carbon nanotubes to thermosetting resin systems with and without fiberglass reinforcement. Carbon nanotubes of varying quantity and morphology are ultrasonically dispersed in epoxy resin and are compression molded to form test samples that are used in forced vibration, free vibration with initial tip deflection, and tension tests to determine their damping ratio, specific damping capacity, and Young’s modulus. Results show increased stiffness and specific damping capacity with the addition of carbon nanotubes and particularly increased frictional loss with increasing surface area to weight ratio. The addition of fiberglass reinforcement to composite samples is shown to reduce the effective damping ratio over plain epoxy samples and carbon nanotube-filled epoxy samples.     

Logic circuits based on individual semiconducting and metallic carbon-nanotube devices

Nanoscale transistors employing an individual semiconducting carbon nanotube as the channel hold great potential for logic circuits with large integration densities that can be manufactured on glass or plastic substrates. Carbon nanotubes are usually produced as a mixture of semiconducting and metallic nanotubes. Since only semiconducting nanotubes yield transistors, the metallic nanotubes are typically not utilized. However, integrated circuits often require not only transistors, but also resistive load devices. Here we show that many of the metallic carbon nanotubes that are deposited on the substrate along with the semiconducting nanotubes can be conveniently utilized as load resistors with favorable characteristics for the design of integrated circuits. We also demonstrate the fabrication of arrays of transistors and resistors, each based on an individual semiconducting or metallic carbon nanotube, and their integration on glass substrates into logic circuits with switching frequencies of up to 500 kHz using a custom-designed metal interconnect layer.     

Correction of chromatic aberrations in GRIN endoscopes

A gradient-index (GRIN) endoscope can be constructed by substituting for the usual objective and relay sections suitable cylindrical index-distribution rod lenses. Currently available GRIN lenses exhibit large amounts of chromatic aberration. Axial color arises mostly from the relay lens, while lateral color is due to the objective lens. A negative lens cemented to a shortened GRIN relay lens can simultaneously correct axial and lateral chromatic aberrations with commercially available components. This correction system reduces the requirements for mechanical centration better than do color correctors that are incorporated into the ocular design. Monochromatic aberrations are also considered.     

Multifunctional polymer composites

This paper reviews research within the Structural Materials Centre, DRA Farnborough into adding additional functionality to polymer composite materials in order to increase their usefulness in addition to the traditional role of structural materials.Demand for greater value for money and cost effectiveness has driven materials scientists and engineers to look at ways of adding value to these materials by getting them to perform functions other that those originally envisaged, that is carrying load, being rigid and not buckling. This might simply be by combining materials together as hybrids to save weight or cost or perhaps to improve toughness without compromising the original properties. Alternatively, totally unrelated performance might be sought, such as the ability to sense and locate damage, these materials having been termed smart materials.In this paper the behaviour of a number of polymer composite multifunctional materials is presented, with examples drawn mainly from work in the Structural Materials Centre at DRA Farnborough. The review covers smart materials and structures, materials designed to absorb electromagnetic radiation and materials optimised for energy absorption.Abbreviations SMC Structural Materials Centre - DRA Defence Research Agency - SHM Structural Health Monitoring - LTC Long Term Cost - PVDF Polyvinylidene Fluoride - PDF Potential Difference Surface - CFRP Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic - GRP Glass Reinforced Plastic     

Simulation study of a field emission triode structure using carbon-nanotube emitters

The device level simulation analysis without considering nanometer geometry of the emissive material is carried out on a self-aligned gated field emission triode structure that can be used for low electric-field emissive materials such as carbon nanotubes. The electric properties of the device, such as electric-field distribution, pixel capacitance, and gate controllability, are simulated using a commercially available field solver based on the boundary-element method. The simulation results show that the depletion-mode operation can eliminate high electric field near the triple-junction regions and produce better uniform emission, comparing enhanced mode operation. The detail of the depletion mode operation is discussed. We also calculate the effect of the gate thickness on pixel emission current and suggest control of the variation of gate layer depostion within 3% in short distance and 20%-30% over the whole display area.     

High sensitivity to humidity of an element based on a carbon-nanotube bundle

The results of development and studies of humidity-sensitive elements based on a carbon-nanotube bundle are presented. It has been demonstrated that arrays of nanotubes grown by the low-temperature plasma-chemical method on planar silicon structures have exceptional sensitivity to humidity. The ratio of the structure resistance in dry and humid states is more than 10⁵-fold. Such a high relative resistance change is caused by the character of changes in conductivity of the charge carriers between individual tubes of the bundle upon adsorption of water molecules.