Anisotropically Functionalized Carbon Nanotube Array Based Hygroscopic Scaffolds

Creating ordered microstructures with hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties that enable the collection and storage of small water droplets from the atmosphere, mimicking structures that exist in insects, such as the Stenocara beetle, which live in environments with limited amounts of water. Inspired by this approach, vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotube forests (NTFs) are asymmetrically end-functionalized to create hygroscopic scaffolds for water harvesting and storage from atmospheric air. One side of the NTF is made hydrophilic, which captures water from the atmosphere, and the other side is made superhydrophobic, which prevents water from escaping and the forest from collapsing. To understand how water penetrates into the NTF, the fundamentals of water/NTF surface interaction are discussed

Carbon Nanotube Core Graphitic Shell Hybrid Fibers

A carbon nanotube yarn core graphitic shell hybrid fiber was fabricated <i>via</i> facile heat treatment of epoxy-based negative photoresist (SU-8) on carbon nanotube yarn. The effective encapsulation of carbon nanotube yarn in carbon fiber and a glassy carbon outer shell determines their physical properties. The higher electrical conductivity (than carbon fiber) of the carbon nanotube yarn overcomes the drawbacks of carbon fiber/glassy carbon, and the better properties (than carbon nanotubes) of the carbon fiber/glassy carbon make up for the lower thermal and mechanical properties of the carbon nanotube yarn <i>via</i> synergistic hybridization without any chemical doping and additional processes