Creation Of Functional Materials Research Articles

Growing Carbon Nanotubes

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Growing carbon nanotubes

The discovery of ‘fullerenes’ added a new dimension to the knowledge of carbon science 1 ; and the subsequent discovery of ‘carbon nanotubes’ (CNTs, the elongated fullerene) added a new dimension to the knowledge of technology 2 ;. Today, ‘nanotechnology’ is a hot topic attracting scientists, industrialists, journalists, governments, and even the general public. Nanotechnology is the creation of functional materials, devices, and systems through control of matter on the nanometer scale and the exploitation of novel phenomena and properties of matter (physical, chemical, biological, electrical, etc.) at that length scale. CNTs are supposed to be a key component of nanotechnology. Almost every week a new potential application of CNTs is identified, stimulating scientists to peep into this tiny tube with ever increasing curiosity.

Creation of functional materials by use of a slow crystallization process in the nonequilibrium state. I. porous polyamide microparticles

AbstractRecently a number of investigations have focused on the self‐organization process from the nonequilibrium state as a new technique that may be used to develop many functional materials. In many cases, amorphous polymers were used and semicrystalline polymers were seldom used in spite of their importance. In this study, we basically investigated the crystal structure, crystalline process, and inner structures of polyamide by using slow phase separation and crystallization process from the nonequilibrium state of the polymer solution. We were able to observe the crystalline lamella growing twisted from the center of the particle. Between these lamella layers, narrow pores were created. From this investigation, we developed a new method to create functional materials of polyamide, the semicrystalline polymer. Porous spherical particles may be properly applied to functional materials such as adsorption materials, catalyst support materials, and so on. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2428–2432, 2003