"Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have drawn great consideration for their numerous promising applications due to their unique electronic, mechanical, structural, and adsorptive properties. However, the preparation of effective dispersions of CNTs severely holds back the utilization, extension, and application of CNTs. To conquer these limitations and expand the scope of their application, proper surface modification of CNTs has fascinated great consideration over the past few decades and discovered a variety of unique hybrid materials with desired applications"--
Carbon-based nanomaterials are rapidly emerging as one of the most fascinating materials in the twenty-first century. Chemical Functionalization of Carbon Nanomaterials: Chemistry and Applications provides a thorough examination of carbon nanomaterials, including their variants and how they can be chemically functionalized. It also gives a comprehe
Polymer nanocomposites are a class of material with a great deal of promise for potential applications in various industries ranging from construction to aerospace. These are high performance materials that exhibit unusual property combinations and unique design possibilities and are thought of as the materials of the 21st century. With an estimated annual growth rate of about 25% and huge demand for engineering polymers, their potential is so promising that they are useful in several applications ranging from packaging to bio-medical. The main difference between polymeric nanocomposites and conventional composites is the filler that is being used for reinforcement. In the nanocomposites the reinforcement is on the order of nanometer that leads to a very different final macroscopic property. Due to this unique feature polymeric nanocomposites have been studied exclusively in the last decade using various nanofillers such as minerals, sheets or fibers. A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a miniature cylindrical carbon structure that has hexagonal graphite molecules attached at the edges. Nanotubes look like a powder or black soot, but they're actually rolled-up sheets of graphene that form hollow strands with walls that are only one atom thick. Nanotubes, which are sometimes called buckytubes, were developed from the Fullerene, a structure that is similar to the geodesic domes. They take the form of cylindrical carbon molecules and have novel properties that make them potentially useful in a wide variety of applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat. Nanotubes are members of the fullerene structural family, which also includes buckyballs. Whereas buckyballs are spherical in shape, a nanotube is cylindrical, with at least one end typically capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure. Carbon Nanotubes - Polymer Nanocomposites focuses on the preparation and property analysis of polymer nanocomposites with CNTs (fibers) as nano fillers.
Since their discovery more than a decade ago, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have held scientists and engineers in captive fascination, seated on the verge of enormous breakthroughs in areas such as medicine, electronics, and materials science, to name but a few. Taking a broad look at CNTs and the tools used to study them, Carbon Nanotubes: Properties and Applications comprises the efforts of leading nanotube researchers led by Michael O’Connell, protégé of the late father of nanotechnology, Richard Smalley. Each chapter is a self-contained treatise on various aspects of CNT synthesis, characterization, modification, and applications. The book opens with a general introduction to the basic characteristics and the history of CNTs, followed by discussions on synthesis methods and the growth of “peapod” structures. Coverage then moves to electronic properties and band structures of single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs), magnetic properties, Raman spectroscopy of electronic and chemical behavior, and electromechanical properties and applications in NEMS (nanoelectromechanical systems). Turning to applications, the final sections of the book explore mechanical properties of SWNTs spun into fibers, sidewall functionalization in composites, and using SWNTs as tips for scanning probe microscopes. Taking a fresh look at this burgeoning field, Carbon Nanotubes: Properties and Applications points the way toward making CNTs commercially viable.
The book series "Polymer Nano-, Micro- and Macrocomposites" provides complete and comprehensive information on all important aspects of polymer composite research and development, including, but not limited to, synthesis, filler modification, modeling, characterization as well as application and commercialization issues. Each book focuses on a particular topic and gives a balanced in-depth overview of the respective subfield of polymer composite science and its relation to industrial applications. With the books the readers obtain dedicated resources with infomation relevant to their research, thereby helping to save time and money. In this first volume in the series, authors from leading academic institutions and companies share their first-hand knowledge of nanotube-surface enhancements for use in polymer composites. All the important methods for the functionalization of nanotube fillers, including polymer wrapping, non-covalent modification with nanoparticles, silica layers or entrapped micelles, chemically induced growth of multilayers, techniques based on covalent bonding, such as polmer or quantum dot attachment, and direct polymerization approaches are covered.
Ever more advanced materials need to be designed to further the exploration of avenues of science and engineering. Metals and traditional composites are not meeting the needs of today's stringent demands for lightweight and strong materials. There is a need for advanced materials that are lighter and stronger to replace conventional materials; carbon fiber composites became the obvious choice because of their outstanding mechanical properties. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based carbon fiber has reached its apex in terms of its strength to weight ratio. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) offer a lightweight and potentially stronger alternative to PAN based fibers. However, it is difficult to translate the properties of individual CNTs macroscopically. The next step to overcome this barrier is to introduce highly aligned CNTs into carbon fiber. Carbon nanotube modified carbon fibers are imperative for the next step in achieving lightweight, ultra-strong fibers, to enhance their fuel efficient application in vehicles.
