Frit compression is the technique used to fabricate

buckypaper Buckypaper is a thin sheet made from an aggregate of carbon nanotubes or carbon nanotube grid paper. The nanotubes are approximately 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. Originally, it was fabricated as a way to handle carbon nanotubes, but i ...

and buckydiscs from a suspension of

carbon nanotubes A scanning tunneling microscopy image of a single-walled carbon nanotube Rotating single-walled zigzag carbon nanotube A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with diameters typically measured in nanometers. ''Single-wall carbon na ...

in a solvent. This is a quick, efficient method over surfactant-casting or acid oxidation filtration of carbon nanotubes.

Background

Traditional methods of buckypaper production involves the use of surfactants to disperse

into aqueous solutions. It was found that filtering this suspension allowed the nanotubes to pack together in a paper-like mat, thus coining the term "buckypaper" (bucky being the reference to the

buckminsterfullerene Buckminsterfullerene is a type of fullerene with the formula C60. It has a cage-like fused-ring structure (truncated icosahedron) made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, and resembles a soccer ball. Each of its 60 carbon atoms is bonded ...

molecule). The problem was the difficulty in removing the surfactant afterwards, where the surfactant has been linked with cell lysis and tissue inflammation. Acid oxidation of carbon nanotubes can also be used in filtration to form buckypaper, but requires a high degree of surface acidic groups in order to obtain efficient dispersal in aqueous solution.

Synthesis

An alternative casting method was developed in 2008 to produce buckypaper that did not require the use of surfactants or the acid oxidation of carbon nanotubes in order to obtain high-purity buckypaper for biomedical applications. The frit-compression system was adapted from a

Solid phase extraction Solid-phase extraction (SPE) is an extractive technique by which compounds that are dissolved or suspended in a liquid mixture are separated from other compounds in the mixture according to their physical and chemical properties. Analytical labor ...

(SPE) column, where a suspension of carbon nanotubes is squeezed between two polypropylene frits (70 micrometre pore diameter) inside a syringe column. The pore structure of the frit allows a rapid exit of the solvent leaving the carbon nanotubes to be pressed together. The presence of the solvent controls the interaction between the tubes allowing the formation of tube-tube junctions; its surface tension directly affects the overlap of adjoining nanotubes thus gaining control over the porosity and pore diameter distribution of buckypaper. The distribution of carbon nanotubes in solvent does not have to be a stable suspension, rather a general dispersion serves much easier to keep the nanotubes between the frits rather than pass through them. Once the system is compressed, the frit-carbon nanotube sandwich is removed from the syringe housing and allowed to dry. The frits can then be removed to leave intact buckypaper. This methodology rapidly speeds up the casting process, avoids use of surfactants and acid oxidation, and the solvent can be fully recovered.

Variety

Image:buckypaper.jpg, Buckypaper from frit compression of multi-walled

Image:buckydisc.jpg, A water-cast buckydisc with convex lower surface Image:buckycolumn.jpg, Buckycolumn just after casting Image:hyperboloid.jpg, Buckycolumn with hyperboloid geometry on drying Image:buckyprism.jpg, Buckyprism with casting frit The cross-sectional geometry of the syringe housing will determine the final structure of the buckypaper and the amount of carbon nanotubes added to the column will affect the height of the carbon nanotube mat. Although there is currently no formal classification for paper, discs and columns, it was deemed necessary to differentiate between the different structures obtained for research purposes.

Buckypaper

Typically, cylindrical columns are used with a few milligrams of carbon nanotubes in a solvent. This generates buckypaper with a circular cross-section and film heights of a few hundred micrometres. Buckypaper is usually a class of carbon nanotube mats with depths from 1 to 500 micrometres.

Buckydiscs

Buckypaper with a height that is larger than 500 micrometres (0.5 mm) is called a buckydisc, being thicker than buckypaper and not paper-like. Moreover, when casting in water, the edges of the film can lift due to surface tension effects of the remaining solvent in the system that can pull carbon nanotubes closer together.

Buckycolumns

Buckydiscs with heights larger than 1 mm can be referred to as buckycolumns. These carbon nanotube monoliths often exhibit hyperboloid geometries and are highly compressible

Buckyprism

It is possible to use square housing to generate square cross sections, known as buckyprisms.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Carbon nanotubes Molecular electronics