Ultrafast Field‐Emission Electron Sources Based on Nanomaterials

The search for electron sources with simultaneous optimal spatial and temporal resolution has become an area of intense activity for a wide variety of applications in the emerging fields of lightwave electronics and attosecond science. Most recently, increasing efforts are focused on the investigation of ultrafast field‐emission phenomena of nanomaterials, which not only are fascinating from a fundamental scientific point of view, but also are of interest for a range of potential applications. Here, the current state‐of‐the‐art in ultrafast field‐emission, particularly sub‐optical‐cycle field emission, based on various nanostructures (e.g., metallic nanotips, carbon nanotubes) is reviewed. A number of promising nanomaterials and possible future research directions are also established.     

Functionalized Carbon‐Nanotube Sheet/Bismaleimide Nanocomposites: Mechanical and Electrical Performance Beyond Carbon‐Fiber Composites

Since their discovery in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been considered as the next‐generation reinforcement materials to potentially replace conventional carbon fibers for producing super‐high‐performance lightweight composites. Herein, it is reported that sheets of millimeter‐long multi‐walled CNTs with stretch alignment and epoxidation functionalization reinforce bismaleimide resin, which results in composites with an unprecedentedly high tensile strength of 3081 MPa and modulus of 350 GPa, well exceeding those of state‐of‐the‐art unidirectional carbon‐fiber‐reinforced composites. The results also provide important experimental evidence of the impact of functionalization and the effect of alignment reported previously on the mechanical performance and electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites.     

Carbon‐Nanotube‐Based Thermoelectric Materials and Devices

Conversion of waste heat to voltage has the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of a number of critical energy sectors, such as the transportation and electricity‐generation sectors, and manufacturing processes. Thermal energy is also an abundant low‐flux source that can be harnessed to power portable/wearable electronic devices and critical components in remote off‐grid locations. As such, a number of different inorganic and organic materials are being explored for their potential in thermoelectric‐energy‐harvesting devices. Carbon‐based thermoelectric materials are particularly attractive due to their use of nontoxic, abundant source‐materials, their amenability to high‐throughput solution‐phase fabrication routes, and the high specific energy (i.e., W g^?1) enabled by their low mass. Single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) represent a unique 1D carbon allotrope with structural, electrical, and thermal properties that enable efficient thermoelectric‐energy conversion. Here, the progress made toward understanding the fundamental thermoelectric properties of SWCNTs, nanotube‐based composites, and thermoelectric devices prepared from these materials is reviewed in detail. This progress illuminates the tremendous potential that carbon‐nanotube‐based materials and composites have for producing high‐performance next‐generation devices for thermoelectric‐energy harvesting.     

Wide‐Range Tunable Dynamic Property of Carbon‐Nanotube‐Based Fibers

A carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber is formed by assembling millions of individual tubes. The assembly feature provides the fiber with rich interface structures and thus various ways of energy dissipation, as reflected by the nonzero loss tangent (>0.028–0.045) at low vibration frequencies. A fiber containing entangled CNTs possesses higher loss tangents than a fiber spun from aligned CNTs. Liquid densification and polymer infiltration, the two common ways to increase the interfacial friction and thus the fiber's tensile strength and modulus, are found to efficiently reduce the damping coefficient. This is because the sliding tendency between CNT bundles can also be well suppressed by a high packing density and the formation of covalent polymer cross‐links within the fiber. The CNT/bismaleimide composite fiber exhibits the smallest loss tangent, nearly the same as that of carbon fibers. At a higher level of the assembly structure, namely a multi‐ply CNT yarn, the interfiber friction and sliding tendency obviously influence the yarn's damping performance, and the loss tangent can be tuned within a wide range, similar to carbon fibers, nylon yarns, or cotton yarns. The wide‐range tunable dynamic properties allow new applications ranging from high quality factor materials to dissipative systems.     

Carbon‐Nanotube‐Confined Vertical Heterostructures with Asymmetric Contacts

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures have received intense attention for their efficient stacking methodology with 2D nanomaterials in vertical dimension. However, it is still a challenge to scale down the lateral size of vdW heterostructures to the nanometer and make proper contacts to achieve optimized performances. Here, a carbon‐nanotube‐confined vertical heterostructure (CCVH) is employed to address this challenge, in which 2D semiconductors are asymmetrically sandwiched by an individual metallic single‐walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and a metal electrode. By using WSe₂ and MoS₂, the CCVH can be made into p‐type and n‐type field effect transistors with high on/off ratios even when the channel length is 3.3 nm. A complementary inverter was further built with them, indicating their potential in logic circuits with a high integration level. Furthermore, the Fermi level of SWCNTs can be efficiently modulated by the gate voltage, making it competent for both electron and hole injection in the CCVHs. This unique property is shown by the transition of WSe₂ CCVH from unipolar to bipolar, and the transition of WSe₂/MoS₂ from p–n junction to n–n junction under proper source–drain biases and gate voltages. Therefore, the CCVH, as a member of 1D/2D mixed heterostructures, shows great potentials in future nanoelectronics and nano‐optoelectronics.     

Rotating‐Electric‐Field‐Induced Carbon‐Nanotube‐Based Nanomotor in Water: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Using molecular dynamics simulations, it is shown that a carbon nanotube (CNT) suspended in water and subjected to a rotating electric field of proper magnitude and angular speed can be rotated with the aid of water dipole orientations. Based on this principle, a rotational nanomotor structure is designed and the system is simulated in water. Use of the fast responsiveness of electric‐field‐induced CNT orientation in water is employed and its operation at ultrahigh‐speed (over 10¹¹ r.p.m.) is shown. To explain the basic mechanism, the behavior of the rotational actuation, originated from the water dipole orientation, is also analyzed . The proposed nanomotor is capable of rotating an attached load (such as CNT) at a precise angle as well as nanogear‐based complex structures. The findings suggest a potential way of using the electric‐field‐induced CNT rotation in polarizable fluids as a novel tool to operate nanodevices and systems.     

Photocatalytic Carbon‐Nanotube–TiO2 Composites

The literature and advances in photocatalysis based on the combination of titania (TiO₂) and carbon nanotubes is presented. The semiconductor basis for photocatalysis is introduced for anatase and rutile. Furthermore, the proposed mechanisms of catalytic enhancement resulting from the pairing of the titania semiconductor with either metallic, semiconducting, or defect‐rich carbon nanotubes (CNT) is discussed. Differences are apparent for the mixtures and chemically bonded CNT–TiO₂ composites. The article then highlights the recent advances in the synthesis techniques for these composites and their photocatalytic reactions with organic, inorganic, and biological agents. Finally, various applications and challenges for these composite materials are reported.