CAREER: Fully Elastic, Compression Carbon Nanotubes with Controlled Strength, Flexibility, and Resilience

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program project is the research of the compression behavior of one-dimensional nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes, and potential applications as energy absorption layers. The nanotubes will be assembled into micro to macro scale patterns over a large area that will behave as a collection of elastic springs with controlled compressive strength and large compressive strains. Materials, geometry, and environmental factors determining the properties of nanotube springs will be studied. The compressive strength and strain will be controlled by the buckling wavelength and the number of buckles produced in nanotubes under compression. The fatigue resistance of such compression nanotubes will be enhanced by partial polymer infiltration on selected portions (e.g. near bottom) of the nanotubes. The buckling behavior will be investigated over a wide range of assemblies from patterns consisting of millions of close-packed nanotubes to well-separated individual nanotubes. The energy absorption capability will be exploited by manipulation of friction between nanotubes and the polymer matrix. If successful, the results of this project will provide reference for building micro to nano scale electromechanical systems based on nanostructures, and insights on the unique behavior of materials at the nanoscale dimension compared with bulk materials. The primary goal of this work is to establish a rational approach to manufacture nanostructure-based systems with excellent properties such as super-elasticity, high compressibility, tunable strength and fatigue resistance. Improvement of these properties is important for exploring applications in many areas such as MEMS and NEMS, sensors and actuators, and light-weight energy absorption coatings. The work also will involve and investigate theory of solid mechanics such as Euler column theory in the context of nanoscale structures.