Growth and Properties: Carbon based Nanotubes and one-dimensional AIN

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• Presentation: Zheng HU "Growth, Structures and Properties of Carbon-based Nanotubes and 1D AIN Nanomaterials" (pdf 7.4 MB)

Even though great progress has been made in the aspects of synthesis, properties and applications of carbon nanotubes, little progress, especially the direct experimental evidence, has been obtained about the mechanism problems.

Research on carbon nanotubes has increased and recently RMIT’s Associate Professor Kourosh Kalantar from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering invited Professor Zheng Hu from the Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of MOE at Nanjing University to present a seminar on carbon based nanotubes. Professor Hu has worked in the research field of materials chemistry, addressing the synthesis, properties and applications of a range of nanoscale materials such as carbon based nanotubes and group III nitrides.

“The understanding on the growth mechanism has become the choke point for the further development of the CNT-related fields since the lasting technical barriers such as the controllable synthesis, electrical contacts with the substrates, unavailability of multilevel interconnects are all closely correlated with the understanding on the growth mechanism,” Professor Zheng Hu said.

“By using the in situ thermal analysis-mass spectroscopic technique, the CVD growth process of CNTs with benzene precursor has been clearly illuminated and the six-membered-ring-based growth mechanism through surface diffusion is deduced”.

“Moreover, nitrogen-doped CNTs with predominant pyridinic N over graphitic N have been obtained by applying this mechanism to the synthesis with pyridine precursor. And the so-synthesized CNx nanotubes have homogenous distribution of the nitrogen species which ensured the convenient functionalisation using metals such as platinum and nickel due to the N-participation. With these specifications such nanocomposite catalysts have potential applications in fuel cells.”

Professor Hu also lectured on one dimensional (1D) aluminium nitride (AlN).

“For quite a long time, a lot of nanotubular geometries of different systems were discovered, but limited in layered compounds.”

Professor Hu’s group discovered that the non-layered AlN could form the faceted single-crystalline h-AlN nanotubes, which extended the nanotubular structures from layered compounds to non-layered compounds and opened a new branch of nanotubular structures.

1D AlN nanostructures, including faceted nanotubes, nanowires, nanobelts, and nanocones have been extensively investigated in his group, which show some extraordinary properties and promising applications.

For further information on this research, please follow the link to the powerpoint presentation or email platformtechnologies@rmit.edu.au