Dispersion of bundle-aggregates of single-walled carbon nanotubes with aromatic molecules as dispersant

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21860030
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Thermal engineering
Research Institution	Tokyo Institute of Technology
Principal Investigator	MURAKAMI Yoichi Tokyo Institute of Technology, グローバルエッジ研究院, テニュア・トラック助教 (80526442)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2010
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2010)
Budget Amount *help	¥2,743,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,110,000、Indirect Cost: ¥633,000) Fiscal Year 2010: ¥1,274,000 (Direct Cost: ¥980,000、Indirect Cost: ¥294,000) Fiscal Year 2009: ¥1,469,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,130,000、Indirect Cost: ¥339,000)
Keywords	カーボンナノチューブ / 孤立化分散 / ナノチューブ / ナノ材料
Research Abstract	The essential purpose of this KAKENHI budget (Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up) is to launch the research environment just after the adoption as a new faculty member by the university where the investigator is presently working at. Single-walled carbon nanotubes have been attracting much attention recently as a novel material. Single-walled carbon nanotubes are, however, usually in the form of bundled aggregates because of the remarkable van-der Waals attractive interaction between the adjacent tube walls. Such aggregated bundles are unsuitable for many applications. The purpose of the project is to experimentally explore and develop the way to resolve the aggregated bundles into mono-dispersed tubes. Thus far, with using a certain type of aromatic polymer, single-walled carbon nanotubes have been densely dispersed into an organic solvent, forming a high-density carbon nanotube "gels". Owing to this start-up budget the research environment has almost been established and the research is now at a stage where the further development is expected.