| NSF Org: |
CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 18, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | January 31, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1417043 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Triantafillos Mountziaris
CBET Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | April 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $100,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $100,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4000 CENTRAL FLORIDA BLVD ORLANDO FL US 32816-8005 (407)823-0387 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
4000 Central Florida Blvd Orlando FL US 32816-2450 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Proc Sys, Reac Eng & Mol Therm |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
Chen
1417043
This work will investigate a photovoltaic initiated and sustained electrochemical deposition process for fabricating hybrid metal/CNT nanowires. It will also study the resultant potential electric conductivity of these metal/CNT nanowires. Nanowires with ultrahigh room temperature conductivities are important for advanced electronics as well as for energy efficient conductors, however pure materials such as metals are prone to electron scattering at the nanoscale. The objectives here will be to investigate and develop a viable fabrication process in photovoltaic assisted deposition of metals onto CNTs to obtain tight bonding and uniform hybrid metal/CNT nanowires. The photovoltaic phenomena of CNTs has been successfully used in solar energy harvesting.
Intellectual Merit:
The hybrid metal/CNT will ensure both a large free electron density (from the metal)
and a large mean free path (from the CNT) that will result in ultrahigh conductivity. Conventional fabrication methods, which rely on catalysts may not only introduce impurities
but also result in non-uniform wires and Shottky barriers are inevitably formed. The PI's fabrication method will result in a photovoltaic sustained electrochemical deposition where no direct electrical connection nor any catalysts are required, and a uniform but tightly bonded metal layer will
be produced. The experimental work will not only demonstrate the ultrahigh conductivity, but also a significantly reduced size effect in the nanometer range. The experimental work combined with quantum mechanical calculations will provide an understanding of the conduction mechanism of the hybrid metal/CNT nanowires.
Broader Impacts :
Materials at the nanoscale with high conductivities are important for a broad range of applications. For example, interconnects in nanoelectronics requires low resistivity to increase the calculation speed, reduce the Joule heating and to increase reliability. Electrodes for biomolecular and biomedical studies need low resistivity for low or negligible effects due to the Joule heating. Metals like copper and aluminum are common conductors for electricity but consume about $300B per year due to Joule heating. If successful, this
work will develop a new material fabrication process and novel hybrid nanowires with ultrahigh conductivity, that will be used as interconnects to reduce the RC delay, and as building blocks to make bulk conductive materials via powder metallurgy to replace copper as conductors in electric systems, including motors, generators, transformers, and electromagnets. This could significantly reduce the Joule heating and reduce the energy consumption and increase the wire?s reliability,
at the same time. Both graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in this integrated research and education program, and existing courses will be amended to include results from this project.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project was carried out to discover innovative methods to coat carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a uniform metal layer that CNT’s properties can be significantly enhanced. During the scope of the project, electrochemical approaches have been carried out to combine with the chemical pretreatment of CNTs. Metals such as nickel, copper and silver have been successfully deposited onto CNTs to cover the CNTs uniformly. The influence of photovoltaic effect on the deposition of metals were investigated. The morphologies of metal covered CNTs were characterized with SEM and TEM. The metal coated CNTs were also used to fabricate metal composites and the enhanced mechanical strength has been obtained.
Two Ph.D. students including one from an underrepresented group were recruited and trained towards their graduations. One Ph.D. student was working on the analytical studies while another Ph.D. student was responsible for the experimental studies. The results gained from this project can be developed further to understand how to improve the interfacial bonding between metals and the coated CNT as well as how to choose the chemical pretreatment for better coating. The results obtained from this project can also be utilized to revise the educational materials associated with the interactions between metals and CNTs.
Last Modified: 12/14/2017
Modified by: Quanfang Chen
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