Novel Nanoscale Materials for Energy Conversion Applications

Abstract

Abstract : This proposal was directed toward studying the electrical and thermal transport in carbon nanotube devices and array assemblies with the ultimate goal of investigating the possibility of a measurable Peltier effect in carbon nanotube devices. This final report will describe the effort performed during the period of this project. The single walled carbon nanotubes for this project were grown in-house by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). CVD synthesis has many advantages over other methods for the fabrication of nanotube devices. CVD-grown nanotubes can be much longer and cleaner than bulk-grown nanotubes that are deposited from solution, and can be grown from patterned catalyst islands. It is possible to control the nanotube diameter by controlling the nanoparticle size, and the placement of CVD grown CNTs can be controlled by patterning the catalysts. Control of CNT properties is potentially possible but challenging as the understanding of the process or the mechanism that would control the chirality of individual tubes is not complete. The project involved development of a CVD synthesis facility to grow the nanotubes, patterning and fabrication of nanotube devices using dip pen nanolithography (DPN) and electron beam lithography, and characterization of the resulting nanotubes and devices by a variety of techniques.