Hybrid Materials for Thermal Management in Thin Films and Bulk Composites.

摘要

We developed and applied nanolatexes and triblock copolymers and processes that stabilize waterborne dispersions of nanocarbon at concentrations 10 to 1000-fold greater than previously reported. By nanocarbon we mean SWCNT, MWCNT, graphene, and hydrothermal carbon (HTC). We developed waterborne coating of MWCNT dispersions to produce the most highly thermally conducting man-made materials prepared outside of a vacuum chamber. We were successful in synthesizing triblock copolymers of poly(propylene oxide) centerblocks having endblocks of an ionic liquid monomer with about 2 to 15 units on either side by controlled ATRP with PDl in the range of 1.20 to 1.7. This new class of stimuli responsive triblocks also was found to exhibit thermoreversibility by forming a lyotropic liquid crystalline gel phase by warming above its LSCT (lower solution concentrations temperatures). We showed that hydrothermal carbon can be formulated to easily be dispersed at the nanoscale and that it shares interesting optical absorption limits with graphene and carbon nanotubes. HTC is a sustainable resource that can be used for nanotechnology development in several areas, including indirect carbon fuel cells.