Machining carbon nanotubes into uniform slices.
Shearing the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to desired size or trimming the CNT tips conveniently is usually necessary for many applications. CNTs are normally believed possessing very high strength and toughness. In this paper we present a simple and novel method to actualize this process. In this method, aligned CNT arrays were embedded in paraffin matrix, and then the materials were carefully sliced up along the direction normal to the CNTs with a microtome. These slices consisted of vertically aligned CNTs with desired and uniform length. The experiments proved that there were enough interaction forces between the CNTs and the paraffin matrix to prevent the CNTs from being pulled out during the machining process. These sheared CNTs have shown better performance for thermal interface materials and field emission applications. This process may redound to unlocking the great potential of CNT applications.
Liu
Changhong
C
Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
Huang
Hua
H
Song
Pengcheng
P
Fan
Shoushan
S