Sansom Elijah B, Rinderknecht Derek, Gharib Morteza
Option of Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Nanotechnology. 2008 Jan 23;19(3):035302. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/19/03/035302. Epub 2007 Dec 13.
Applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) like field emission displays, super-capacitors, and cell growth scaffolds can benefit from controllable embedding of the CNTs in a material such that the CNTs are anchored and protrude a desired length. We demonstrate a simple method for anchoring densely packed, vertically aligned arrays of CNTs into silicone layers using spin-coating, CNT insertion, curing, and growth substrate removal. CNT arrays of 51 and 120 µm in height are anchored into silicone layers of thickness 26 and 36 µm, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy are used to characterize the sample morphology, a 5.5 m s(-1) impinging water jet is used to apply shear stress, and a tensile test shows that the silicone layer detaches from the substrate before the CNTs are ripped from the layer. The CNTs are thus well anchored in the silicone layers. The spin-coating process gives control over layer thickness, and the method should have general applicability to various nanostructures and anchoring materials.
碳纳米管（CNT）在诸如场发射显示器、超级电容器和细胞生长支架等领域的应用，可受益于将碳纳米管可控地嵌入一种材料中，使得碳纳米管被固定并伸出所需的长度。我们展示了一种简单的方法，通过旋涂、碳纳米管插入、固化和去除生长衬底，将密集排列、垂直对齐的碳纳米管阵列固定到硅树脂层中。高度为51和120微米的碳纳米管阵列分别被固定到厚度为26和36微米的硅树脂层中。使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和光学显微镜来表征样品形态，使用速度为5.5米每秒的冲击水射流施加剪切应力，拉伸试验表明在碳纳米管从层中被撕裂之前，硅树脂层已从衬底上分离。因此，碳纳米管被很好地固定在硅树脂层中。旋涂过程可控制层厚度，该方法应普遍适用于各种纳米结构和固定材料。
