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The Effect of Filter Type, Concentration, and Type of Carbon Nanotube on the Buckypaper Surface Quality
M. Kamalvand, M. Madhkhan, B. Hamidi, A. Vahedi, S. Ziaei-Rad, M. A. Vaziri
International Journal of Nanoscience, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011, pp. 1-4
ABSTRACT
Buckypaper is a thin sheet fabricated from the aggregation of carbon nanotubes. The generally accepted method for forming such carbon nanotube (CNT) films involves the use of stable suspension of carbon nanotubes in water. These suspensions can then be membrane-filtered under pressure to yield uniform films. After preparation of a stable solution, it should be membrane-filtrated on the surface of a filter. Usually, the quality of a buckypaper depends on sonication time and power, surfactant type and concentration, filter type, and concentration of carbon nanotube. In order to investigate the surface quality of buckypapers, low-magnification images could give rather useful information about the roughness of surface. Analysis of the 100 × images clearly shows that with increasing the suspension concentration, the smoothness of buckypaper surface will decrease. Therefore, from this viewpoint, decreasing the concentration can enhance the quality of the buckypaper. Surface of the filter also affects on the buckypaper quality. Therefore, for filtration of the suspension, a filter with suitable material, pore sizes, and surface should be used. As the pore sizes of the filter are usually small, the filtration process may be very time-consuming. Since the process is carring out under pressure and also due to the brittle nature of the buckypaper, removal of the buckypaper from the surface of the filter is a very serious and important stage and depends on the filter type, concentration, and type of CNTs. The buckypaper usually can be removed from the filter mechanically. The type of CNTs (MWNT or SWNT) may change the above-mentioned factors.
Keywords:
Buckypaper; surface quality; filter type; carbon nanotube
Journal Papers
Month/Season:
February
Year:
2011