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There are many molecules that can be used to make nanodevices and nanostructures, but the most promising and powerful because of their unique properties are the carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The CNT is a tubular form of carbon with a diameter that can be as small as 1 nm and length of few nanometers to micron range.There are several techniques for making carbon nanotubes, which require expensive equipment and processes based on the use of metal catalysts. These catalysts are difficult to completely remove later on, from the post-production nanotubes, even after cleaning and purification. We have developed at GSFC, an innovative carbon arc welding technique that is simple, cost efficient and does not require the use of a metal catalyst. The process uses an arc welding process to apply high electrical current to a carbon (or graphite) anode and a graphite cathode for specified periof of time under closely monitored conditions that result in the formation of the single wall nanotube (SWNT) on the first 5cm of the graphite anode. Using this process, we have obtained yields of about 50% of CNTs of different sizes. These CNTs have been characterized using advanced analysis techniques, such as scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), etc. The analysis has showed the process used capable of providing fairly high quality mainly single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). This method can be further refined to produce low cost, high quality CNTs that would be suitable for a wide variety of commercial applications. The SWCNTs currently available are very expensive and cost approximately $1000/gram purified. Our estimated cost of production using the developed procedure is $50/g purified SWCNTs.
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Patent Number:
6740224
Licensing:
Available
Public Release Date:
10/17/2002
Reference Number: GSC-14435-1
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