Development of a Novel, Reactive Extrusion Process for Continuous Production of Long, Pure Carbon Nanotubes for Application in Lightweight Composite Materials, Phase I

Applications for pure, long and short, carbon nanotubes are seemingly endless and include high strength-to-weight ratio fibers and tethers, low loss conduction pathways for photovoltaic cells, composite materials (polymer-CNT and metal-CNT composites), quantum dot interconnects, functionalized catalysts, adsorbents, SPM tips, and a wide variety of nanoelectronic devices and materials. Of the applications mentioned thus far, large volumes of high purity carbon nanotubes will find rapid application as additives in polymeric and metallic composite materials. A significant amount of research has revealed that the physical properties of common polymeric materials are greatly improved after addition of relatively small percentages of carbon nanotube materials. For example, at low carbon nanotube concentrations in polymer composites, a reduction in surface resistivity from more than 1012 ohms/square to less than 100 ohms/square results. Similarly, for polystyrene composites containing 2.5% – Non-NASA application are analogous to NASA applications mentioned above. The primary difference is in regards to harsh environment survivability. Most commercial applications have much less stringent environmental qualification standards associated with them. More »