Advanced Hybrid Manufacturing Platform for Carbon Nanotube Devices (ADVENTURE)

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been pivotal in generating industrial interest in nanotechnology. Their success can be quantified by the production volume of CNTs, which is growing exponentially, and is currently estimated at 5000 ton/yr. In part, this success can be attributed to the physical properties of CNTs, some of which are unlike any other engineering material (e.g.

Youngs Modulus of 1 TPa, a tensile strength of 100 GPa, thermal conductivities up to 3500 Wm-1K-1). Importantly, the above off-the-chart properties only apply to high quality individual nanotubes whereas most commercial applications require tens to millions of carbon nanoparticles to be assembled into one device. Unfortunately, the mechanical and electronic properties of merit typically drop by at least an order of magnitude in comparison to the constituent nanoparticles once integrated into an assembly.

It is therefore critical to develop new manufacturing processes which enable enhanced assembly of CNTs and their integration in devices. Additionally, many applications require CNTs to be interfaced with electrodes for electrical connections, as well as with liquids for sensing, microfluidic and biomedical applications, which typically require various additional advanced manufacturing processes that have several complexities and limitations.

In this EPSRC Adventurous Manufacturing grant, we aim to develop innovative manufacturing techniques capable of creating structured assemblies of carbon nanoparticles with both integrated electrodes and microchannels. This requires the consolidation of manufacturing techniques that has never been attempted previously. It will allow control of structures over multiples length scales:

- At the nanoscale (