8. Carbon Nanotubes Is Expectedexothermic to and Become Also Increasingly Coverages
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
193 Carbon8. Carbon Nano Nanotubes Part B | 8 Marc Monthioux, Philippe Serp, Brigitte Caussat, Emmanuel Flahaut, Manitra Razafinimanana, Flavien Valensi, Christophe Laurent, Alain Peigney, David Mesguich, Alicia Weibel, Wolfgang Bacsa, Jean-Marc Broto Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are remarkable objects robustness, the ability of their electronic struc- that once looked set to revolutionize the tech- ture to be given a gap, and their wide typology nological landscape in the near future. Since the etc. Therefore, carbon nanotubes may provide the 1990s and for twenty years thereafter, it was re- building blocks for further technological progress, peatedly claimed that tomorrow’s society would be enhancing our standard of living. shaped by nanotube applications, just as silicon- In this chapter, we first describe the structures, based technologies dominate society today. Space syntheses, growth mechanisms, and properties of elevators tethered by the strongest of cables, carbon nanotubes. Then we introduce nanotube- hydrogen-powered vehicles, artificial muscles: based materials, which comprise on the one hand these were just a few of the technological mar- those formed by reactions and associations of all- vels that we were told would be made possible by carbon nanotubes with foreign atoms, molecules the science of carbon nanotubes. and compounds, and on the other hand, compos- Of course, this prediction is still some way from ites, obtained by incorporating carbon nanotubes becoming reality; most often the possibilities and in various matrices. Finally, we will provide a list of potential have been evaluated, but actual tech- applications currently on the market, while skip- nological development is facing the unforgiving ping the potentially endless and speculative list of rule that drives the transfer of a new material or possible applications. a new device to market: profitability. New mate- rials, even more so for nanomaterials, no matter 8.1 Structure how wonderful they are, have to be cheap to pro- of Carbon Nanotubes......................... 194 duce, constant in quality, easy to handle, and 8.1.1 Single-Wall Nanotubes ...................... 194 nontoxic. Those are the conditions for an indus- 8.1.2 Multiwall Nanotubes ......................... 197 try to accept a change in its production lines to make them nanocompatible. Consider the ex- 8.2 Synthesis ample of fullerenes – molecules closely related of Carbon Nanotubes......................... 199 to nanotubes. The anticipation that surrounded 8.2.1 Solid Carbon Source-Based Synthesis these molecules, first reported in 1985, resulted in Techniques: The DC Electric Arc............ 199 the bestowment of a Nobel Prize for their discov- 8.2.2 Gaseous Carbon Source-Based ery in 1996. However, two decades later, very few Synthesis Techniques ......................... 202 fullerene applications have reached the market, 8.2.3 Miscellaneous Techniques .................. 207 suggesting that similarly enthusiastic predictions 8.2.4 Synthesis with Controlled Orientation.. 208 about nanotubes should be approached with cau- 8.3 Growth Mechanisms tion, and so should it be with graphene, another of Carbon Nanotubes......................... 210 member of the carbon nanoform family which 8.3.1 Catalyst-Free Growth ......................... 210 joined the game in 2004, again acknowledged by 8.3.2 Catalytically Activated Growth............. 210 aNobelPrizein2010. There is no denying, however, that the ex- 8.4 Properties pectations surrounding carbon nanotubes are still of Carbon Nanotubes......................... 213 high, because of specificities that make them spe- 8.4.1 Overall Properties of SWNTs................. 213 cial compared to fullerenes and graphene: their 8.4.2 Adsorption Properties ........................ 213 easiness of production, their dual molecule/nano- 8.4.3 Electronic and Optical Properties......... 215 8.4.4 Mechanical Properties........................ 216 Copyright © 2017. Springer. All rights reserved. © 2017. Springer. Copyright object nature, their unique aspect ratio, their 8.4.5 Reactivity.......................................... 216 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017 B. Bhushan (Ed.), Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-49347-3_8 Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology, edited by Bharat Bhushan, Springer, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/viennaut/detail.action?docID=5131796. Created from viennaut on 2018-11-17 04:18:29. 194 Part B Nanomaterial and Nanostructures Part B | 8.1 8.5 Carbon Nanotube-Based 8.7.2 Near-Field Microscopy Probes ............. 227 Nano-Objects 8.7.3 Electron Emitter ................................ 229 (Carbon Meta-Nanotubes) ................. 217 8.7.4 Flexible and Touch-Screen Displays..... 229 8.5.1 Heteronanotubes............................... 217 8.7.5 Nonvolatile Random Access 8.5.2 Filled Carbon Nanotubes .................... 217 Memory ............................................ 229 8.5.3 Functionalized Nanotubes.................. 220 8.7.6 Light Absorbants................................ 229 8.5.4 Coated/Decorated Nanotubes.............. 221 8.7.7 Automotive and Aeronautic 8.6 Carbon-Nanotube-Containing Industry............................................ 230 Materials (Composites) ...................... 223 8.7.8 High-Tech Goods and Clothes ............. 230 8.6.1 Metal Matrix Composites .................... 223 8.7.9 Anodes for Li-Ion Batteries................. 230 8.6.2 Ceramic Matrix Composites ................. 223 8.7.10 Chemical Sensors............................... 230 8.6.3 Polymer-Matrix Composites................ 224 8.7.11 Catalyst Support ................................ 231 8.6.4 Composites as Multifunctional 8.8 Toxicity and Environmental Impact Materials .......................................... 225 of Carbon Nanotubes......................... 231 8.7 Current Applications of Carbon 8.9 Concluding Remarks.......................... 233 Nanotubes (on the Market)................ 227 8.7.1 Carbon Nanotubes and Master Batches 227 References................................................... 233 Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have long been synthe- the nanotubes in situ with various metals (Sect. 8.5)led sized as products of the action of a catalyst on the to the discovery – again unexpected – of single-wall gaseous species originating from the thermal decom- carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) (Sect. 8.1) simultaneously position of hydrocarbons (Sect. 8.2)[8.1]. The first by Iijima and Ichihashi [8.5]andBethune et al. [8.6]. evidence that the nanofilaments produced in this way SWNTs were really new nano-objects with properties were actually nanotubes – that they exhibited an inner and behaviors that are often quite specific (Sect. 8.4). cavity – can be found in the transmission electron mi- They are also beautiful objects for fundamental physics croscope micrographs published by Radushkevich and as well as unique molecules for experimental chem- Lukyanovich in 1952 [8.2]. Since then, the interest in istry. Potential applications seem countless for such carbon nanofilaments/nanotubes was recurrent, though CNTs or CNTs combined with a matrix (Sect. 8.6), within a scientific area almost limited to the carbon ma- and some have reached the market (Sect. 8.7)yet terial scientist community [8.3]. Worldwide enthusiasm toxicity and environmental issues should not be ig- began unexpectedly in 1991, after the catalyst-free for- nored (Sect. 8.8). Consequently, it still remains an mation of nearly perfect concentric multiwall carbon extraordinarily active – and highly competitive – field nanotubes (c-MWNTs, Sect. 8.1) was reported [8.4] of research, as that of fullerenes was and that of as by-products of the formation of fullerenes via the graphene now is, which, by the way, are again car- electric-arc technique (Sect. 8.3). But the real break- bon nano-objects structurally closely related to nano- through occurred two years later, when attempts to fill tubes. 8.1 Structure of Carbon Nanotubes It is relatively easy to imagine a single-wall carbon 8.1.1 Single-Wall Nanotubes nanotube (SWNT). Ideally, it is enough to consider a perfect graphene sheet (graphene is a polyaromatic Calculations have shown that collapsing the single-wall monoatomic layer consisting of sp2-hybridized carbon tube into a flattened two-layer ribbon is energetically atoms arranged in hexagons; genuine graphite consists more favorable than maintaining the tubular morphol- of layers of this graphene) and to roll it into a cylinder ogy beyond a diameter value of 2:5nm[8.8]. Con- (Fig. 8.1), making sure that the hexagonal rings placed versely, the shorter the radius of curvature, the higher in contact join coherently. the stress and the energetic cost, although SWNTs Then the tips of the tube are sealed by two caps, with diameters as low as 0:4 nm have been synthesized Copyright © 2017. Springer. All rights reserved. © 2017. Springer. Copyright each cap being a hemifullerene with the appropriate di- successfully [8.9]. A suitable energetic compromise is ameter (Fig. 8.2a–c). therefore reached for 1:35 nm, the most frequent di- Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology, edited by Bharat Bhushan, Springer, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/viennaut/detail.action?docID=5131796. Created from viennaut on 2018-11-17 04:18:29. Carbon Nanotubes 8.1 Structure of Carbon Nanotubes 195 Part B | 8.1 y a) x b) θ T A c) a1 O Ch a2 Fig. 8.1 Making an SWNT, starting from a graphene sheet (after [8.7]) Fig. 8.2a–c