Showcase 2008: UC Researchers Lead the World with Length of Carbon Nanotube Arrays

University of Cincinnati Showcase 2008 — UC-Industry Partnerships Produce Nano Materials with Big Impacts

UC engineering researchers have developed a novel composite catalyst and optimal synthesis conditions for oriented growth of multi-wall carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays. And right now they lead the world in synthesis of extremely long aligned carbon nanotube arrays. UC’s nano research will be featured at the University of Cincinnati Showcase 2008, which takes place 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., March 7, 2008, at Tangeman University Center on UC's Uptown campus.
 

Carbon nanotubes are of great interest because of their outstanding mechanical, electrical and optical properties. Intense research has been undertaken to synthesize long aligned CNTs because of their use in nanomedicine, aerospace, electronics and many other areas. Especially important is that long CNT arrays can be spun into fibers that should be significantly stronger and lighter than any existing fibers and electrically conductive, as well. Nanotube fibers are expected to engender revolutionary advances in the development of lightweight, high-strength materials and could potentially replace copper wire.

UC engineering researchers Vesselin Shanov and Mark Schulz, co-directors of the University of Cincinnati Smart Materials Nanotechnology Laboratory, along with Yun YeoHeung and students, invented the method for growing the record-breaking nanotube arrays. Employing this invention, the UC researchers collaborated with First Nano, a division of CVD Equipment Corporation of Ronkonkoma, New York, to produce extremely long CNT arrays on their EasyTube System using a Chemical Vapor Deposition process. UC is also partnering with another company to develop production of long CNT arrays that can be spun into fibers.

Also, a new company was recently spun off from the University of Cincinnati to commercialize nanotechnology. The company is General Nano LLC (GN). The focus of GN is on nanotechnology and smart materials for engineering and medicine. Representatives from GN will be at the showcase event.

This research was supported by

National Science Foundation

(NSF) grant CMS-051-0823 (program directors Shih-Chi Liu & K. Jimmy Hsia) and the

Office of Naval Research

(program director Ignacio Perez) through North Carolina A&T SU (program directors Jag Sankar & Sergey Yarmolenko). CVD Equipment Corporation engineers developed and built the EasyTube System used by First Nano to grow the long CNT arrays.

Nanonews travels fast: this research has been one of the most highly sought news topics for the University of Cincinnati and was featured on the home page of the

National Science Foundation

. The nanotubes were also featured in

SmallTimes magazine

and on

LiveScience’s Image of the Day

. Articles were published across the United States as well as the United Kingdom, South America, China, India and Korea.

Read at length about these tiny tubes.

Other Nano News at UC
11/29/2006   University of Cincinnati Researchers Grow Their Longest Carbon Nanotube Ever
A nanospace race has raged to successfully grow a nanotube array suitable for many uses. And today a UC research team, in conjunction with First Nano, is ahead — by a thousandth of a hair.

9/29/2005   Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ Curriculum! NSF Grant Enables UC to Bring Nano to the Undergraduates
An interdisciplinary, intercollegiate group of UC researchers has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education grant, "Integration of Nanoscale Science and Engineering into Undergraduate Curricula."

8/26/2005   Good Things Come in Nano Packages at the University of Cincinnati
In recognition for its commitment to nanotechnology, UC was recently ranked #2 in the United States for nanotechnology education by Small Times magazine. And in July, Nanoengineering of Structural, Functional and Smart Materials was published by CRC Press. The volume, which was co-edited by UC’s Mark Schulz, contains 24 chapters, four of which are co-authored by UC faculty.