Method of Forming Composite Materials including Conjugated Materials attached to Carbon Nanotubes or Graphenes (CIP)

A method of forming composite materials includes dispersing a conjugated material, a solvent for the conjugated material, and a plurality of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or graphene including structures having an outer surface to form a dispersion. The solvent is evaporated from the dispersion to yield a CNT or graphene composite including a plurality of crystalline supramolecular structures having the conjugated material non-covalently secured to the outer surface of the CNT or the graphene including structure. The supramolecular structures have an average length which extends outward in a length direction from the outer surface of the CNT or graphene including structure, where the average length is greater than an average width of the supramolecular structures

Supramolecular Structures Comprising At Least Partially Conjugated Polymers Attached to Carbon Nanotubes and Graphenes

A composition of matter includes at least one carbon nanotube (CNT) or grapheme type structure having an outer surface and a plurality of crystalline polymer supramolecular structures that includes a conjugated polymer that are non-covalently secured to the outer surface of the CNTs or the grapheme type structure. The conjugated polymer can be a conjugated homopolymer or a block copolymer including at least one conjugated block. The supramolecular structures extend outward from the outer surface of the CNTs or grapheme type structures

Dispersions of Carbon Nanotubes in Copolymer Solutions and Functional Composite Materials and Coatings Therefrom

A dispersion includes non-chemically modified carbon nanotubes, a soluble block coploymer providing at least one block of a conjugated polymer, and at least one solvent. at 25 degrees C, exclusive of any mechanical force and after one hour, at least 90% of the carbon nanotubes exist in the dispersion as isolated nanotubes. The compenents of the dispersin can be combined with a polymer miscible with the block copolymer to form a carbon nanotube polymer composite upon removal of the solvent. The dispersion can be cast on a substrate and then dried to form a coating, including forming a superhydrophobic coating on the substrate. The non-conjugated polymer of the block copolymer or another miscible conjugated polymer including a copolymer can include functionalities that non-covalently attach to the carbon nanotube surface, such as for enhanced solubility or enhanced biocompatibility

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) crystalline nanoribbon network for organic field effect transistors

We report on the fabrication of crystalline nanoribbon network field effect transistors (FETs) using low molecular weight (M(W)) poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with different surface treatments and compare with thin film FETs cast from the same M(W) regioregular P3HT. Nanoribbon FET shows improved performance with a maximum mobility of 0.012 cm(2)/V s and current on/off ratios of 6.5x10(4) due to unique crystalline structure and morphology. With various surface treatments, the nanoribbon FETs show less variation in device mobilities, while thin film FETs show more than ten times variation in device mobilities and up to 100 times change in current on/off ratios

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) crystalline nanoribbon network for organic field effect transistors (vol 96, 243304, 2010)

We report on the fabrication of crystalline nanoribbon network field effect transistors (FETs) using low molecular weight (M(W)) poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with different surface treatments and compare with thin film FETs cast from the same M(W) regioregular P3HT. Nanoribbon FET shows improved performance with a maximum mobility of 0.012 cm(2)/V s and current on/off ratios of 6.5x10(4) due to unique crystalline structure and morphology. With various surface treatments, the nanoribbon FETs show less variation in device mobilities, while thin film FETs show more than ten times variation in device mobilities and up to 100 times change in current on/off ratios

Polymer Composites Having Highly Dispersed Carbon Nanotubes and Methods for Forming Same

A method of forming carbon nanotube-polymer composites includes the steps of forming a mixture solution including a plurality of carbon nanotubes dispersed in a co-solvent. The co-solvent includes an organic solvent and a second solvent being a short chain fluorinated carboxylic acid having a boiling point below 150 degrees C which is less oxidizing than nitric acid, and is soluble in both the organic solvent and water. The first polymer is mixed with the mixture solution to form a polymer including mixture. The co-solvent is removed from the polymer mixture to form a dispersed nanotube-polymer composite. The second solvent can be trifluoroacetic acid

Polymer Composites Having Highly Dispersed Carbon Nanotubes

A carbon nanotube-polymer composite includes a polymer continuous phase having at least a first polymer and a plurality of carbon nanotubes dispersed in the polymer continuous phase. The carbon nanotubes are non-functionalized nanotubes. The carbon nanotubes are between 0.05 and 40 weight % of the composite. At least 98% of the carbon nanotubes are not involved in nanotube bundles

A Multifunctional Gold Nanoparticle/Polyelectrolyte Fibrous Nanocomposite Prepared from Electrospinning Process

Gold nanoparticles are introduced to a fibrous nanocomposite material prepared from electrospinning a polyelectrolyte solution of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH). The functional groups in the fiber allow convenient thermal crosslinking of the fibers and the binding of tetrachloroaurate ions. Gold nanoparticle-modified nanofibers can be further treated by silver enhancement that increased the electrical conductivity of the nanofibers to 10(-2) S/cm. The FT-IR analysis of the nanocomposite fibers shows that the deposition of gold nanoparticles significantly enhances the IR absorption intensity of the polymer fibers, offering a potential sensing capability through enhanced FT-IR absorption of molecules. Upon laser irradiation, the photothemal effect generated by gold nanoparticles caused deformation, melting, or local decomposition of the nanofibers which allows the patterning of nanofibers. The multifunctional composite nanofibers may find many important potential applications in sensors, optical and electronic devices, tissue engineering and catalysis

An Integrated Model for Simulating Regional Water Resources Based on Total Evapotranspiration Control Approach

Total evapotranspiration and water consumption (ET) control is considered an efficient method for water management. In this study, we developed a water allocation and simulation (WAS) model, which can simulate the water cycle and output different ET values for natural and artificial water use, such as crop evapotranspiration, grass evapotranspiration, forest evapotranspiration, living water consumption, and industry water consumption. In the calibration and validation periods, a "piece-by-piece" approach was used to evaluate the model from runoff to ET data, including the remote sensing ET data and regional measured ET data, which differ from the data from the traditional hydrology method. We applied the model to Tianjin City, China. The Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (Ens) of the runoff simulation was 0.82, and its regression coefficient 2 was 0.92. The Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (Ens) of regional total ET simulation was 0.93, and its regression coefficient 2 was 0.98. These results demonstrate that ET of irrigation lands is the dominant part, which accounts for 53% of the total ET. The latter is also a priority in ET control for water management