Catalytic growth of carbon nanotubes and their patterning based on ink-jet and lithographic techniques

High yield growth of patterned vertically aligned carbon nanotubes using inkjet-printed catalyst

This study reports on the fabrication of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes localized at specific sites on a growth substrate by deposition of a nanoparticle suspension using inkjet printing. Carbon nanotubes were grown with high yield as vertically aligned forests to a length of approximately 400 μm. The use of inkjet printing for catalyst fabrication considerably improves the production rate of vertically aligned patterned nanotube forests compared with conventional patterning techniques, for example, electron beam lithography or photolithography.

Multifunctional composite core-shell nanoparticles

In this review paper, the state-of-the-art knowledge of the core-shell multifunctional nanoparticles (MNPs), especially with unique physiochemical properties, is presented. The synthesis methods were summarized from the aspects of both the advantages and the demerits. The core includes the inexpensive and easily oxidized metals and the noble shells include the relatively noble metals, carbon, silica, other oxides, and polymers. The properties including magnetic, optical, anti-corrosion and the surface chemistry of the NPs are thoroughly reviewed. The current status of the applications is reviewed with the detailed examples including the catalysis, giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensing, electromagnetic interface shielding or microwave absorption, biomedical drug delivery, and the environmental remediation.

Advances in carbon-nanotube assembly

Iijima's observation in 1991 of fullerene-like materials by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy heralded the beginning of the carbon nanotube (CNT) era. A wealth of theoretical predictions and experimental verifications about CNTs have disclosed remarkable size- and structure-dependent properties that are attractive for various potential applications, ranging from conducting wires in molecular devices to fillers in nanocomposites. Many of these applications require assembly (alignment and/or patterning) of CNTs into hierarchical arrays over large-scale areas with controllable shape, location, orientation, and density of the nanotubes. Efforts from both the scientific and engineering points of view have been made to address this issue, beginning shortly after the discovery of CNTs. We review here the development of CNT-assembly techniques under the two rubrics of synthetic assembly and post-synthetic assembly, with emphasis given to the post-synthetic approach. Preliminary to the survey of assembly techniques, we also discuss the characterization techniques that have been widely used for the challenging tasks of visualizing and quantifying CNT assembly.