Overview of “Liquid” Coal and its Applications

Abstract

In the previous study, we reported the achievement of nano scale particles of carbon black by multiple coupling of specific anchor groups having electrolytic functionality onto the same material. As a result, the pseudo products called as the “liquid” nano carbon (LNC) or “liquid” coal having average particle size down to the range between 20-30nm, can be isolated by water flush. The LNC product exhibits the thin film (400Ao thick) forming properties by solvent coating (for example using spinner, i.e. no need to use vacuum techniques,), and micro patterning capability useful for microelectronic device fabrication. We found that the surface modified carbon black with multiple coupling processes can be successfully utilized as intermediate materials for semiconductor wafer processing including the fabrication of dry etching mask for DRIE in MEMS devices, thermal management materials in nano chip ….In another study, it is discovered that the electrolytic groups in LNC is the main cause for the significant reduction of the electrical conductivity of carbon black raw material. The LNC nano composite with suitable emulsion polymers exhibits remarkable proton transport efficiency with significant enhancement of thermal stability over wide range of temperature, measurable up to 350C in the ambient environment, suggesting that it can be used as proton exchange membrane (PEM) for PEM fuel cell. In fact, in a PEMFC configuration, the LNC nano composite PEM shows higher current density and 2X higher power efficiency than that of Nafion 117 which is well known in the PEMFC market. The PEMFC using LNC nano composite PEM also exhibits superior shelf life exceeding 3.5 months when an aqueous methanol liquid fuel system is continuously fed.Over all, the surface modified carbon black has successfully met the applications of inkjet printing. The extended technology has generated a novel material which is LNC successfully leveraged into the area of micro electronic devices, energy technology and future printed electronics.