Failure mechanism of the polymer infiltration of carbon nanotube forests
| Autor: | Hyung Gyu Park, Jakob Buchheim |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Bioengineering 02 engineering and technology Carbon nanotube 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences law.invention law General Materials Science Electrical and Electronic Engineering Composite material Scaling chemistry.chemical_classification Mechanical Engineering General Chemistry Polymer 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Aspect ratio (image) 0104 chemical sciences Infiltration (hydrology) Membrane chemistry Buckling Mechanics of Materials Meniscus 0210 nano-technology |
| Zdroj: | Nanotechnology. 27:464002 |
| ISSN: | 1361-6528 0957-4484 |
| DOI: | 10.1088/0957-4484/27/46/464002 |
| Popis: | Polymer melt infiltration is one of the feasible methods for manufacturing filter membranes out of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on large scales. Practically, however, its process suffers from low yields, and the mechanism behind this failure is rather poorly understood. Here, we investigate a failure mechanism of polymer melt infiltration of vertical aligned (VA-) CNTs. In penetrating the VA-CNT interstices, polymer melts exert a capillarity-induced attractive force laterally on CNTs at the moving meniscus, leading to locally agglomerated macroscale bunches. Such a large configurational change can deform and distort individual CNTs so much as to cause buckling or breakdown of the alignment. In view of membrane manufacturing, this irreversible distortion of nanotubes is detrimental, as it could block the transport path of the membranes. The failure mechanism of the polymer melt infiltration is largely attributed to steric hindrance and an energy penalty of confined polymer chains. Euler beam theory and scaling analysis affirm that CNTs with low aspect ratio, thick walls and sparse distribution can maintain their vertical alignment. Our results can enrich a mechanistic understanding of the polymer melt infiltration process and offer guidelines to the facile large-scale manufacturing of the CNT-polymer filter membranes. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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