Rice university and Swansea university’s energy security research institute have found that old newspapers can be used as low-cost and environmentally friendly materials for mass production of single-walled carbon nanotubes, us media reported.
Carbon nanotubes are tiny molecules with incredible physical properties that have applications as diverse as conductive films for touch screens, flexible electronics and antennas for 5G networks.
The new study, published in the journal of the multidisciplinary institute of digital publishing, details experiments that have been carried out during the production of carbon nanotubes, and the results are expected to solve some of the problems that hinder mass production, such as the high cost of preparing surfaces suitable for chemical growth; It is difficult to expand the scale of production because it can only realize single side growth before.
The team found that the large surface area of the newspaper provided an unlikely but ideal method for the chemical growth of carbon nanotubes. Research leader Bruce brinson said: “the advantage of newspapers is that they are suitable for winding processes and are therefore ideal as a low-cost, stackable 2D surface for the production of carbon nanotubes.”
However, not all newspapers are equally good – only newspapers pulped with kaolin can allow carbon nanotubes to grow. “Many substances, including talc, calcium carbonate and titanium dioxide, can be used to pulp and act as fillers to help optimize paper absorption and durability,” said study co-author varon shenoy-gangol.
Andrew barron, director of the energy security research institute at Swansea university, said: “previous studies have shown that graphene, carbon nanotubes and carbon spots can be synthesized on a variety of materials. With our new research, we have identified a continuous flow system that could significantly reduce the cost of the substrate and the post-synthesis process, potentially impacting future mass production of single-walled carbon nanotubes.”