Filing Information

Inventor(s)	Richard E. Smalley · Daniel T. Colbert · Hongjie Dai · Jie Liu · Andrew G. Rinzler · Jason H. Hafner · Kenneth A. Smith · Ting Guo · Pavel Nikolaev · Andreas Thess ·
Assignee(s)	William Marsh Rice University ·  View assignee updates
Attorney/Agent(s)	Ross Spencer Garsson · Edward T. Mickelson · Winstead Sechrest & Minick, P.C. ·
Primary Examiner	Stanley S. Silverman ·
Assistant Examiner	Peter J. Lish ·
Application Number	US10032932
Filing date	12/28/2001
Issue date	01/17/2006
Prior Publication Data	US20020136683 - 09/26/2002
Predicted expiration date	06/23/2019
Patent term adjustment	474
U.S. Classifications	423/447.1  · 423/447.2  · 977/DIG.1  ·
International Classifications	D01F912  ·
Kind Code	B2
Related U.S. Application Data	RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a division of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/380,545, filed on Dec. 22, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,683,783 entitled “CARBON FIBERS FORMED FROM SINGLE-WALL CARBON NANOTUBES,” (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,683,783 on Jan. 27, 2004), which is the 35 U.S.C. § 371 national application of International Application Number PCT/US98/04513 filed on Mar. 6, 1998, which designated the United States, claiming priority to: provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/067,325, filed on Dec. 5, 1997; provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/064,531, filed on Nov. 5, 1997; provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/063,675, filed on Oct. 29, 1997; provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/055,037, filed on Aug. 8, 1997; provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/047,854, filed on May 29, 1997; and provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/040,152, filed on Mar. 7, 1997. Each of the foregoing applications is commonly assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This application discloses subject matter related to the subject matter of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/000,746, filed on Nov. 30, 2001 in the name of Daniel T. Colbert et al., entitled “MACROSCOPICALLY MANIPULABLE NANOSCALE DEVICES MADE FROM NANOTUBE ASSEMBLIES,” which application is commonly assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

Patent Family

Abstract

This invention relates generally to forming arrays of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT). In one embodiment, the present invention involves forming a macroscopic molecular array of tubular carbon molecules, said method comprising the step of assembling subarrays of up to 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes into a composite array.

Independent Claims | See all claims (10)

1. 1. A method of forming a macroscopic molecular array of tubular carbon molecules, said method comprising the step of assembling subarrays of at least about 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes into a composite array.
2. 5. A method of forming a macroscopic molecular array of tubular carbon molecules, said method comprising the step of assembling subarrays of at least about 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes into a composite array wherein the subarrays are made according to the method comprising: (a) providing at least about 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes of substantially similar length in the range between 50 to 500 nm; (b) introducing a linking moiety onto at least one end of the single-wall carbon nanotubes; (c) providing a substrate coated with a material to which the linking moiety will attach; and (d) contacting the single-wall carbon nanotubes containing a linking moiety with the substrate, wherein the substrate comprises a substance selected from the group consisting of gold, mercury and indium-tin-oxide.
3. 6. A method of forming a macroscopic molecular array of tubular carbon molecules, said method comprising the step of assembling subarrays of at least about 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes into a composite array wherein the subarrays are made according to the method comprising: (a) providing at least about 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes of substantially similar length in the range between 50 to 500 nm; (b) introducing a linking moiety onto at least one end of the single-wall carbon nanotubes; (c) providing a substrate coated with a material to which the linking moiety will attach; and (d) contacting the single-wall carbon nanotubes containing a linking moiety with the substrate, wherein the linking moiety comprises a moiety selected from the group consisting of —S—, —S—(CH2)n—NH—, and —SiO3(CH2)3NH—.
4. 7. A method of forming a macroscopic molecular array of tubular carbon molecules, said method comprising the step of assembling subarrays of least about 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes into a composite array wherein the subarrays are made according to the method comprising: (a) providing a nanoscale array of microwells on a substrate; (b) depositing a metal catalyst in each of said microwells; and (c) directing a stream of hydrocarbon or CO feedstock gas at said substrate under conditions that effect growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes from each microwell.
5. 9. A method of forming a macroscopic molecular array of tubular carbon molecules, said method comprising the step of assembling subarrays of at least about 106 single-wall carbon nanotubes into a composite array wherein the subarrays are made according to the method comprising: (a) providing a surface comprising purified single-wall carbon nanotube material; (b) subjecting the surface to oxidizing conditions sufficient to cause short lengths of broken single-wall carbon nanotubes to protrude up from the surface; and (c) applying an electric field to the surface to cause the single-wall carbon nanotubes to align in an orientation generally perpendicular to the surface and coalesce into an array.