Carbon Nanotubes

HASSANALI GHAEDAMINI HAROUNI - A0068990M

LO KWOK WAH DENNIS - A0005859X

LOW GUAT SIM - A0082071N

GOPALAKRISHNAN NANDINI - A0098547L

RAGUNATH GUHA - A0082085E

SHEN ZIHONG - A0046147H

Flywheels & Transparent Electrodes

Outline Background of CNT

What are they?

Synthesis & Properties

Emerging Applications

Growth Drivers

Market Demand

Prices of CNT

How cheaper can CNT get?

Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Transparent Electrodes &

Flywheels

Challenges & Improvements

Conclusion

Q & A

CNT - What are they?

A graphite sheet rolled into a seamless cylinder

Multi-walled (MWCNT): Concentric or spiral

Single-walled (SWCNT): Zig-zag, armchair or chiral

Fullerite: Polymerised single walled

Torus: Nanotube bent into doughnut shape

E.T. Thostenson et al. / Composites Science and Technology (2001)

CNT - Synthesis

Carbon Nanotubes can be synthesised in 3 main ways

Arc Discharge

Laser Ablation

Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD)

Other techniques are:

Flame pyrolysis, Bottom-up organic approach,

High-Pressure CO Conversion (HiPco),

Thermal Plasma Synthesis, Rotation Reactors

(Improved CVD), CCVD (Catalytic CVD).

CNT - Properties

Among the other properties of CNT, the most prominent ones are :

Electrical Mechanical

Thermal

*Very Large Scale Integration

Diamond CNT Steel

Youngs

Modulus(GPa) 1220 1000 210

Tensile

strength(GPa) 1.2 63 1.2

Yield stress(GPa) 16.53 52.00 0.83

Density(g cm-3) 3.52 1.35 8

Field emission in vacuum electronics

Building block for next generation of

VLSI*

Nano lithography

Has constant resistivity & a tolerance

for very high current density

Armchair structures are metallic while,

chiral can be a moderate

semiconductor Good thermal capacitors along tube &

insulators laterally to the tube axis.

15 times more heat conductive than copper

Temperature stability -up to 2800oC in vacuum

& about 750oC in air

Emerging Applications

Flywheels for

Uninterrupted Power

Supply (UPS)

Transparent electrodes

Lithium-ion batteries

Super-capacitors

CNT-based electronic

components such as field-

effect transistors (FETs).

The unique electrical and mechanical properties of CNT has

been modified to assemble them into devices like:

Market Demand of CNT

Electronics & Data Storage

Energy

Source: http://www.electronics.ca/presscenter/articles/1204/1/Market-Applications-of-Carbon-Nanotubes/

Prices of Materials (Multi-tonnes) Pri

ce (

USD

/gra

m)

0.000

0.001

0.010

0.100

1.000

10.000

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

SWNT (90wt%) Indium

Silicon MWNT

Carbon Fibre Steel

Year

Source: Multi-source (please refer to the comments section)

Price at various purity levels (2013)

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

1 10 25 50 100 500 1000

($'0

00)

Weight (g)

Price of CNT

99% SWCNT

90% SWCNT

60% SWCNT

99% MWCNT

95% MWCNT

Source: http://www.cheaptubesinc.com/carbon-nanotubes-prices.htm#Single_Walled_Nanotubes_Prices

How much cheaper can CNT get ?

Source: www.small-journal.com reviews © 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

The Road for Nanomaterials Industry: A Review of Carbon Nanotube Production, Post-Treatment and Bulk Applications for

Composites and Energy Storage

CNT Cost vs Production capacity

Production Capacity vs Actual Production

Yr 2008 Yr 2009 Yr 2010 Yr 2015

Spare capacity (tonne) 656 1690 3355 3000

Actual Production

(tonne) 340 500 710 9300

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

CN

T P

rod

ucti

on

(to

nn

e)

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/production-and-application-of-carbon-nanotubes-carbon-nanofibers-fullerenes-

graphene-and-nanodiamonds-a-global-technology-survey-and-market-analysis-131970098.html

Process/ Source Carbon Fibre CNT

Precursors Polymer (polyacrylonitrile,

polyethylene)

Carbon containing gas

(methane, ethane etc) +

metal catalyst (Ni etc)

Synthesizing Oxidation and carbonization Carbonization (breaking off

carbon)

Surface treatment Liquid Oxidation with acid/

alkaline

Acid washing

Packaging Spooling Sheets, Vertically aligned, etc

Manufacturing process of CNT

Manufacturing cost of CNT

Source: Rocky Mountain Institute, 2011

Reasons:

Availability of large volume of waste produced worldwide

composed of polymers (polyethyelene, polypropylene etc)

Plastic polymers serve very well as carbonaceous feed for CNT

production

Energy and resource intensive production of CNTs

More cost efficient as, precusors are the main contributor to

high-cost

Using Waste material (as precursors) for

CNT Production

Source: Chemical Engineering Journal 195–196 (2012) 377–391

Source: Towards large scale aligned carbon nanotube composites: an industrial safe-by-design and sustainable approach: Journal of

Physics: Conference Series 429 (2013) 012050

Materials as precursors for Production of

VA-CNT

Alternate energy to lower Mfg cost

Source: Renewable and Sustainability Reviews, Volume 22, June 2013, Pg 560-570

Carbon Nanotubes in

Transparent Electrode &

Flywheels

Transparent Electrode

What is transparent electrode? A transparent and conductive material

For devices like touch screens, LCDs, OLEDs, Solar cells

Transparent electrodes to be used in display panels:

Higher conductivity

Higher transparency

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) in Transparent

Electrodes

Advantage Disadvantage

Ease of fabrication

Expensive and time-consuming multi stage

refining process with low efficiency (15 to 30%)

Consistency and

reproducibility

Shortage of supply: Indium is a by product of

other mining operation, eg. Zinc and Lead

Mature technology Increasing cost of ITO

Good transmittance in the

visible (>80%) and near IR

regions

Low resilience to mechanical stresses

Low electrical resistivity Inherently brittle in nature

Flexible substrate, deterioration in the

conductivity when subjected to thermal and

mechanical strains

Degrade with time when subjected to

mechanical stress

Alternative materials in Transparent

Electrode

A) Carbon Nanotube

(CNT) films

B) Random Net works of

metallic nanowires

C) Metal gratings

D) Graphene films

Source: Kumar, Akshay, and Chongwu Zhou. "The race to replace tin-doped indium oxide: which material will

win?." ACS nano 4.1 (2010): 11-14.

Carbon Nanotubes for Transparent

Electrodes

Optoelectronic property of CNT network films

ITO performance (100 Ohm/sq and >90% transparency)

Unidym CVD nanotubes outperforms any other CVD

tubes together with Laser and Arc tubes

Source: Park, Young‐Bae, et al. "37.4: Late‐News Paper: Integration of Carbon Nanotube Transparent Electrodes into Display

Applications." SID Symposium Digest of Technical Papers. Vol. 39. No. 1. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008.

Hybrids of CNT network films

Price Conductivity Transparency Flexibility

CNT √ √

ITO √ √

Contact resistances and semi-conducting nanotubes of

the nanotube network films

Chemical doping

Hybridization of conducting guest components

o Acid treatment

o Deposition of metal nanoparticles

o Creation of a composite of conducting polymers

Surface-modified carbon nanotube networks for

transparent conducting film applications

Result of Chemical Doping

One tenth

reduction in

resistance by

post treatment

of CNT

Source: Yang, Seung Bo, et al. "Recent advances in hybrids of carbon nanotube network films and nanomaterials for

their potential applications as transparent conducting films." Nanoscale 3.4 (2011): 1361-1373.

Flywheels

Consists of 3 major components:

Flywheel (Rotor, Rotor’s bearing & Housing)

Electrical motor/generator to transfer electricity

Controlled electronics for connection to a larger

electric power system

Basic Operating Principle of Flywheel Energy Storage System:

Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6I2lKtfpLQ

What are Flywheel Energy Storage Systems?

Why Flywheels for Energy Storage?

Source: http://www.globalrenewablenews.com/?

ESS Feature Lead Acid Battery Flywheel Battery

Storage Mechanism Chemical Mechanical

Energy Density Higher Lower

Power Density Lower Higher

Efficiency (input/output) 75% 95%

Price per Kilowatt $50 -$100 (USD) $400 - $800 (USD)

Maintenance Higher Lower

Operating Life 3-5 yrs > 20 yrs

Charging Capabilities Slow Rapid

Charging Cycles 1000 100,000

Technology Proven Promising

Environmental Concerns Disposal Issues Slight

Temperature Range Limited Less Limited

Relative Size (equivalent power/energy) Larger Smaller

Annual Sales ($Millions USD) ~ 7000 ~ 2

Flywheel

CNT

Flywheel

CNT

Design for Flywheels

Increasing Mass of Rotor Increasing Velocity of Rotor

Slow Speed Flywheels High Speed Flywheels

Store twice as much energy when it

spins at the same speed

Store quadruple as much energy when it

spins twice the speed

Dense and Large (Larger Footprint) Lighter and Smaller (Smaller Footprint)

Deliver a large amount of power for a

short period of time

Produce usable work or electrical energy

for hours but in smaller quantities

Applications: Emergency backup

power sources

Applications: Motor vehicles

Source: http://cdn.intechweb.org/pdfs/20363.pdf

Velocity (v) x 2 Energy (Ek) x 22

Mass (m) x 2 Energy (Ek) x 2

Current Materials Used For Rotors: Steel or Carbon Fiber

As Speed of rotor increases, the energy stored is limited by the

strength of the rotor material

Rotor eventually reaches a point where the force is too great

that it shatters into fragments

Limitations for High

Speed Flywheels

Carbon Nanotubes for High Speed

Flywheels

Specific tensile

strength of the

material

Source: http://cdn.intechweb.org/pdfs/20363.pdf

Specific Density (ρ) T. Strength (σt)

Carbon Nanotubes are 10 times much stronger than Carbon Fiber

& 20 times much stronger than Steel

Challenges for High Speed Flywheels

Year Carbon Fiber Carbon Nanotubes

2016 $0.018 $0.16

2015 $0.022 $0.18

2014 $0.027 $0.20

2013 $0.031 $0.23

*Price (USD/gram)

Solution:

Drive CNT prices down through Mass Production

Use of existing manufacturing process

Use of renewable resources for manufacturing (Materials & Energy)

Source: Multi-source (please refer to the comments section)

Cost approximately 9

times that of Carbon Fiber

New Industry/ Product Opportunities for

Carbon Nanotubes

Energy Electronics

High Functionality Materials Structural Materials

Power cables

Solar heat electric generation

Silicon replacement semi conductor circuit

Power semiconductor heat dissipater

High temperature range visco-elasticity

High electric conductivity rubber roller

Aircraft body fortifying material

Wind power generator fan blade

Challenges:

1. High Cost of CNT

2. Manufacturing CNT to create new and different

structural and functional properties suitable for

different applications

Solutions:

1. Driving down CNT prices through mass production

2. Exploit existing manufacturing process (e.g.: CVD)

3. Use of renewable resources (material & energy) to

reduce manufacturing cost

Once these challenges are overcome, the growth in

global CNTs demand is expected to accelerate

thereafter. Based on the trend analysis, our team

projects that Carbon Nanotubes would become

feasible, around 25 years from now for majority of the

applications

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