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Press Release 04-034
Polymer Chemists Assemble Nanowires and Nanoemitters
March 28, 2004
ARLINGTON, Va.—At the annual meeting of the American Chemical
Society this weekend, two groups of polymer scientists from
Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Chemistry will
describe novel nanostructures, created with chemical methods,
which may lead to new generations of electronic devices and
materials.
Chuanbing Tang, a graduate student working with Professor Tomasz
Kowalewski, will describe carbon-based structures created from
polymer mixtures applied to a substrate. After the mixtures
organize themselves into ordered films, the researchers crosslink
the polymers to lock in the structure, and then carefully burn
off selected material. Kowalewski's group, funded as part of an
NSF Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team, believes this
technique can be adapted to construct nanosensors, electron
emitters for flat panel displays, and solar cells.
Richard McCullough, dean of the Mellon College of Science, will
describe his group's newest conducting polymers. McCullough and
coworkers, also supported by NSF, have developed methods for
attaching chemical "caps" to a class of conducting polymers they
first synthesized in 1992. Changing the capping chemical leads
to different affinities for attaching the molecule chains to
various substrates or interacting with other polymers, allowing
wide control over the mechanical and electrical properties of the
materials. In one novel configuration, sheets of polymer
nanowires are embedded in a second polymeric material.
Both groups work with techniques that are cost-effective and
scalable to manufacturing environments. Further details of this
work can be found in the following CMU press releases:
Carnegie Mellon University Chemist Announces One-Step Method to
Produce Hightly Conductive Polymer Nanowires
http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2004-03/cmucmu_1031904.php
Carnegie Mellon University Scientists Use Innovative Polymer
Chemistry to Create Novel Carbon Nanoparticles with Vast Potential http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2004-03/cmu-cmu032404.php
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Peter West, NSF (703) 292-7761 pwest@nsf.gov
Lauren Ward, CMU (412) 268-7761 wardle@andrew.cmu.edu
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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