EP2057212A1 - Nanomaterial polymer compositions and uses thereof - Google Patents
Nanomaterial polymer compositions and uses thereofInfo
- Publication number
- EP2057212A1 EP2057212A1 EP07789313A EP07789313A EP2057212A1 EP 2057212 A1 EP2057212 A1 EP 2057212A1 EP 07789313 A EP07789313 A EP 07789313A EP 07789313 A EP07789313 A EP 07789313A EP 2057212 A1 EP2057212 A1 EP 2057212A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- nanomaterial
- composition
- polymer
- optical
- nanomaterials
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
- 239000002086 nanomaterial Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 212
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 168
- 229920000642 polymer Polymers 0.000 title claims abstract description 134
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 77
- 229920005573 silicon-containing polymer Polymers 0.000 claims abstract description 36
- 239000002109 single walled nanotube Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 33
- 239000002070 nanowire Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 13
- 239000002105 nanoparticle Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 239000002096 quantum dot Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 239000002074 nanoribbon Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 10
- 239000002159 nanocrystal Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 9
- 239000002073 nanorod Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 7
- 239000002071 nanotube Substances 0.000 claims description 26
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims description 24
- -1 polydimethylsiloxane Polymers 0.000 claims description 22
- 239000002019 doping agent Substances 0.000 claims description 13
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 claims description 12
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 claims description 11
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicium dioxide Chemical compound O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000004205 dimethyl polysiloxane Substances 0.000 claims description 9
- 229920000435 poly(dimethylsiloxane) Polymers 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000010453 quartz Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- 229910052799 carbon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 230000010287 polarization Effects 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000010409 thin film Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- YBNMDCCMCLUHBL-UHFFFAOYSA-N (2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl) 4-pyren-1-ylbutanoate Chemical compound C=1C=C(C2=C34)C=CC3=CC=CC4=CC=C2C=1CCCC(=O)ON1C(=O)CCC1=O YBNMDCCMCLUHBL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052804 chromium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- YFCVAZGXPLMNDG-UHFFFAOYSA-N dimethyl-bis[[methyl(diphenyl)silyl]oxy]silane Chemical compound C=1C=CC=CC=1[Si](C)(C=1C=CC=CC=1)O[Si](C)(C)O[Si](C)(C=1C=CC=CC=1)C1=CC=CC=C1 YFCVAZGXPLMNDG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052742 iron Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052748 manganese Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052759 nickel Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 229920001921 poly-methyl-phenyl-siloxane Polymers 0.000 claims description 4
- 229920005989 resin Polymers 0.000 claims description 4
- 239000011347 resin Substances 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052719 titanium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052796 boron Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052732 germanium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052750 molybdenum Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 150000004756 silanes Chemical class 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052718 tin Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052725 zinc Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910017083 AlN Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910017115 AlSb Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910015849 BeSiN2 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910004608 CdSnAs2 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910004613 CdTe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910021589 Copper(I) bromide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910021591 Copper(I) chloride Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910021593 Copper(I) fluoride Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910021595 Copper(I) iodide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- VMQMZMRVKUZKQL-UHFFFAOYSA-N Cu+ Chemical compound [Cu+] VMQMZMRVKUZKQL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910016518 CuGeP3 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910016351 CuSi2P3 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910016347 CuSn Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910002601 GaN Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910005540 GaP Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910005542 GaSb Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910001218 Gallium arsenide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910005987 Ge3N4 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910002616 GeOx Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910005829 GeS Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910005866 GeSe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910005900 GeTe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910004262 HgTe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910000673 Indium arsenide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910015858 MSiO4 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910017680 MgTe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910002665 PbTe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052581 Si3N4 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910020328 SiSn Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910000577 Silicon-germanium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910021607 Silver chloride Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910021608 Silver(I) fluoride Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910005642 SnTe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910007475 ZnGeP2 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910007707 ZnSnSb2 Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910007709 ZnTe Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910045601 alloy Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000000956 alloy Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium oxide Inorganic materials [O-2].[O-2].[O-2].[Al+3].[Al+3] PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- UHYPYGJEEGLRJD-UHFFFAOYSA-N cadmium(2+);selenium(2-) Chemical compound [Se-2].[Cd+2] UHYPYGJEEGLRJD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- OXBLHERUFWYNTN-UHFFFAOYSA-M copper(I) chloride Chemical compound [Cu]Cl OXBLHERUFWYNTN-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052593 corundum Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052737 gold Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- WPYVAWXEWQSOGY-UHFFFAOYSA-N indium antimonide Chemical compound [Sb]#[In] WPYVAWXEWQSOGY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- RPQDHPTXJYYUPQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N indium arsenide Chemical compound [In]#[As] RPQDHPTXJYYUPQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052741 iridium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910003465 moissanite Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052763 palladium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052697 platinum Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- SBIBMFFZSBJNJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N selenium;zinc Chemical compound [Se]=[Zn] SBIBMFFZSBJNJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910010271 silicon carbide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052814 silicon oxide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052709 silver Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- ADZWSOLPGZMUMY-UHFFFAOYSA-M silver bromide Chemical compound [Ag]Br ADZWSOLPGZMUMY-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 claims description 2
- HKZLPVFGJNLROG-UHFFFAOYSA-M silver monochloride Chemical compound [Cl-].[Ag+] HKZLPVFGJNLROG-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 claims description 2
- REYHXKZHIMGNSE-UHFFFAOYSA-M silver monofluoride Chemical compound [F-].[Ag+] REYHXKZHIMGNSE-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 claims description 2
- MBEGFNBBAVRKLK-UHFFFAOYSA-N sodium;iminomethylideneazanide Chemical compound [Na+].[NH-]C#N MBEGFNBBAVRKLK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- OCGWQDWYSQAFTO-UHFFFAOYSA-N tellanylidenelead Chemical compound [Pb]=[Te] OCGWQDWYSQAFTO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052721 tungsten Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052720 vanadium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910001845 yogo sapphire Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000012535 impurity Substances 0.000 claims 1
- 238000004528 spin coating Methods 0.000 claims 1
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 abstract description 44
- 239000006185 dispersion Substances 0.000 abstract description 8
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 abstract description 6
- 238000002174 soft lithography Methods 0.000 abstract description 6
- 230000021615 conjugation Effects 0.000 abstract description 5
- 239000002048 multi walled nanotube Substances 0.000 abstract description 5
- 230000008929 regeneration Effects 0.000 abstract description 5
- 238000011069 regeneration method Methods 0.000 abstract description 5
- 238000007493 shaping process Methods 0.000 abstract description 5
- 230000006641 stabilisation Effects 0.000 abstract description 5
- 238000011105 stabilization Methods 0.000 abstract description 5
- 230000001629 suppression Effects 0.000 abstract description 5
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 22
- 239000010408 film Substances 0.000 description 20
- OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Carbon Chemical compound [C] OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 17
- 239000002041 carbon nanotube Substances 0.000 description 12
- 229910021393 carbon nanotube Inorganic materials 0.000 description 12
- 229920001971 elastomer Polymers 0.000 description 10
- 239000000806 elastomer Substances 0.000 description 10
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 description 10
- 239000002904 solvent Substances 0.000 description 10
- 230000000737 periodic effect Effects 0.000 description 8
- 238000000862 absorption spectrum Methods 0.000 description 6
- 239000012071 phase Substances 0.000 description 6
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 description 6
- 239000000725 suspension Substances 0.000 description 6
- LFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Ethanol Chemical compound CCO LFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 5
- 238000010521 absorption reaction Methods 0.000 description 5
- 239000003054 catalyst Substances 0.000 description 5
- XKRFYHLGVUSROY-UHFFFAOYSA-N Argon Chemical compound [Ar] XKRFYHLGVUSROY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- UQSXHKLRYXJYBZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Iron oxide Chemical compound [Fe]=O UQSXHKLRYXJYBZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- 238000002835 absorbance Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 4
- 239000007789 gas Substances 0.000 description 4
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- ZWEHNKRNPOVVGH-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-Butanone Chemical compound CCC(C)=O ZWEHNKRNPOVVGH-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- YMWUJEATGCHHMB-UHFFFAOYSA-N Dichloromethane Chemical compound ClCCl YMWUJEATGCHHMB-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- XEKOWRVHYACXOJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Ethyl acetate Chemical compound CCOC(C)=O XEKOWRVHYACXOJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- ZMXDDKWLCZADIW-UHFFFAOYSA-N N,N-Dimethylformamide Chemical compound CN(C)C=O ZMXDDKWLCZADIW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- YXFVVABEGXRONW-UHFFFAOYSA-N Toluene Chemical compound CC1=CC=CC=C1 YXFVVABEGXRONW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- 239000006096 absorbing agent Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000005229 chemical vapour deposition Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000007429 general method Methods 0.000 description 3
- XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N iron Substances [Fe] XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- 239000003960 organic solvent Substances 0.000 description 3
- 229920006254 polymer film Polymers 0.000 description 3
- 238000002360 preparation method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000000527 sonication Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000004094 surface-active agent Substances 0.000 description 3
- QPFMBZIOSGYJDE-UHFFFAOYSA-N 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane Chemical compound ClC(Cl)C(Cl)Cl QPFMBZIOSGYJDE-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- YEJRWHAVMIAJKC-UHFFFAOYSA-N 4-Butyrolactone Chemical compound O=C1CCCO1 YEJRWHAVMIAJKC-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- CSCPPACGZOOCGX-UHFFFAOYSA-N Acetone Chemical compound CC(C)=O CSCPPACGZOOCGX-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- HEDRZPFGACZZDS-UHFFFAOYSA-N Chloroform Chemical compound ClC(Cl)Cl HEDRZPFGACZZDS-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- IAZDPXIOMUYVGZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Dimethylsulphoxide Chemical compound CS(C)=O IAZDPXIOMUYVGZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-ZSJDYOACSA-N Heavy water Chemical compound [2H]O[2H] XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-ZSJDYOACSA-N 0.000 description 2
- KFZMGEQAYNKOFK-UHFFFAOYSA-N Isopropanol Chemical compound CC(C)O KFZMGEQAYNKOFK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- WYURNTSHIVDZCO-UHFFFAOYSA-N Tetrahydrofuran Chemical compound C1CCOC1 WYURNTSHIVDZCO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 241001455273 Tetrapoda Species 0.000 description 2
- RDOXTESZEPMUJZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N anisole Chemical compound COC1=CC=CC=C1 RDOXTESZEPMUJZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 229910052786 argon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000012159 carrier gas Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000002131 composite material Substances 0.000 description 2
- BGTOWKSIORTVQH-UHFFFAOYSA-N cyclopentanone Chemical compound O=C1CCCC1 BGTOWKSIORTVQH-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000004870 electrical engineering Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000007306 functionalization reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000010348 incorporation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910001867 inorganic solvent Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000003049 inorganic solvent Substances 0.000 description 2
- VNWKTOKETHGBQD-UHFFFAOYSA-N methane Chemical compound C VNWKTOKETHGBQD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 238000002156 mixing Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005693 optoelectronics Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229920000620 organic polymer Polymers 0.000 description 2
- SLIUAWYAILUBJU-UHFFFAOYSA-N pentacene Chemical compound C1=CC=CC2=CC3=CC4=CC5=CC=CC=C5C=C4C=C3C=C21 SLIUAWYAILUBJU-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 239000002952 polymeric resin Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229920001296 polysiloxane Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000011369 resultant mixture Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000035945 sensitivity Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229920003002 synthetic resin Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 229910000314 transition metal oxide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 238000005199 ultracentrifugation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000007740 vapor deposition Methods 0.000 description 2
- RYHBNJHYFVUHQT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 1,4-Dioxane Chemical compound C1COCCO1 RYHBNJHYFVUHQT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- UGFAIRIUMAVXCW-UHFFFAOYSA-N Carbon monoxide Chemical compound [O+]#[C-] UGFAIRIUMAVXCW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- UFHFLCQGNIYNRP-UHFFFAOYSA-N Hydrogen Chemical compound [H][H] UFHFLCQGNIYNRP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- ZOKXTWBITQBERF-UHFFFAOYSA-N Molybdenum Chemical compound [Mo] ZOKXTWBITQBERF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- FXHOOIRPVKKKFG-UHFFFAOYSA-N N,N-Dimethylacetamide Chemical compound CN(C)C(C)=O FXHOOIRPVKKKFG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- CTQNGGLPUBDAKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N O-Xylene Chemical compound CC1=CC=CC=C1C CTQNGGLPUBDAKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- CYTYCFOTNPOANT-UHFFFAOYSA-N Perchloroethylene Chemical group ClC(Cl)=C(Cl)Cl CYTYCFOTNPOANT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000003848 UV Light-Curing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002253 acid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000002280 amphoteric surfactant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 125000000129 anionic group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 239000003945 anionic surfactant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052787 antimony Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052785 arsenic Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052793 cadmium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910002091 carbon monoxide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 125000002091 cationic group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 239000003093 cationic surfactant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005119 centrifugation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910010293 ceramic material Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052801 chlorine Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 150000001875 compounds Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 229920001940 conductive polymer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000004020 conductor Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004132 cross linking Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000013078 crystal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000001723 curing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007423 decrease Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000011161 development Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000018109 developmental process Effects 0.000 description 1
- KPUWHANPEXNPJT-UHFFFAOYSA-N disiloxane Chemical class [SiH3]O[SiH3] KPUWHANPEXNPJT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004049 embossing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000945 filler Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910021389 graphene Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- GNOIPBMMFNIUFM-UHFFFAOYSA-N hexamethylphosphoric triamide Chemical compound CN(C)P(=O)(N(C)C)N(C)C GNOIPBMMFNIUFM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910052738 indium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000011261 inert gas Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910010272 inorganic material Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000011147 inorganic material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000010354 integration Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000000608 laser ablation Methods 0.000 description 1
- XCAUINMIESBTBL-UHFFFAOYSA-N lead(ii) sulfide Chemical compound [Pb]=S XCAUINMIESBTBL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910052744 lithium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052749 magnesium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910001092 metal group alloy Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- UZKWTJUDCOPSNM-UHFFFAOYSA-N methoxybenzene Substances CCCCOC=C UZKWTJUDCOPSNM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000000813 microcontact printing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000000845 micromoulding in capillary Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000001682 microtransfer moulding Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000011733 molybdenum Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000000465 moulding Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000001527 near-field phase shift lithography Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002736 nonionic surfactant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000013307 optical fiber Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000011368 organic material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052698 phosphorus Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000002861 polymer material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000006116 polymerization reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000000746 purification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000011084 recovery Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000000820 replica moulding Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910052711 selenium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000001228 spectrum Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000087 stabilizing effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052717 sulfur Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052714 tellurium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229950011008 tetrachloroethylene Drugs 0.000 description 1
- YLQBMQCUIZJEEH-UHFFFAOYSA-N tetrahydrofuran Natural products C=1C=COC=1 YLQBMQCUIZJEEH-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- ISXOBTBCNRIIQO-UHFFFAOYSA-N tetrahydrothiophene 1-oxide Chemical compound O=S1CCCC1 ISXOBTBCNRIIQO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000009210 therapy by ultrasound Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000002834 transmittance Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000012808 vapor phase Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920003169 water-soluble polymer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000008096 xylene Substances 0.000 description 1
- PAPBSGBWRJIAAV-UHFFFAOYSA-N ε-Caprolactone Chemical compound O=C1CCCCCO1 PAPBSGBWRJIAAV-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C09—DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- C09C—TREATMENT OF INORGANIC MATERIALS, OTHER THAN FIBROUS FILLERS, TO ENHANCE THEIR PIGMENTING OR FILLING PROPERTIES ; PREPARATION OF CARBON BLACK ; PREPARATION OF INORGANIC MATERIALS WHICH ARE NO SINGLE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS AND WHICH ARE MAINLY USED AS PIGMENTS OR FILLERS
- C09C3/00—Treatment in general of inorganic materials, other than fibrous fillers, to enhance their pigmenting or filling properties
- C09C3/12—Treatment with organosilicon compounds
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- B82Y30/00—Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
- C01P2004/10—Particle morphology extending in one dimension, e.g. needle-like
- C01P2004/13—Nanotubes
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
- C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
- C01P2004/60—Particles characterised by their size
- C01P2004/64—Nanometer sized, i.e. from 1-100 nanometer
Definitions
- the present invention relates to Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer.
- the compositions are useful in optoelectronic, photonic and sensing applications.
- Nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes
- chemistry, physics, materials science, and electrical engineering due to their unique structures and unique electrical, mechanical, electro-optical and electromechanical properties.
- nanomaterials show promise as components for electronic, optical and sensor devices .
- Organic and inorganic nanomaterials such as single or multi- walled nanotubes, nanowires, nanodots, quantum dots, nanorods , nanocrystals, nanotetrapods, nanotripods, nanobipods , nanoparticles , nanosaws, nanosprings, nanoribbons, or branched nanomaterials, are of great interest to researchers in various fields such as chemistry, physics, materials science, and electrical engineering, due to their unique structures and unique electrical, mechanical, electro- optical and electromechanical properties . Accordingly, these nanomaterials show promise as components for electronic, optical and sensor devices .
- nonlinear optical properties we refer to the nonlinear variations of the optical characteristics of a given material with changes in the intensity and power of incident and/or transmitted light.
- a typical example of nonlinear optical property is the saturable absorption of a material. In this case the material's optical absporption decreases nonlinearIy with increased intensity and/or power of the incident light, up to a point where the material gets “bleached”, i.e. it becomes transparent to the incident light and allows almost unperturbed light transmission.
- compositions comprising: (i) a silicone polymer and (ii) a nanomaterial, such as a single or multi-walled nanotube, a nanowire, a nanodot, a quantum dot, a nanorod, a nanocrystal, a nanotetrapod, a nanotripod, a nanobipod, a nanoparticle, a nanosaw, a nanospring, a nanoribbon, a branched tetrapod or any other branched nanomaterial, or any mixture thereof.
- the nanomaterial can be organic or inorganic .
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are useful as in optical and photonic circuits for appliations including but not limited to noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode- locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation or filter devices, dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, a soliton stabilization, microcavity applications, interferometers; and optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation. These are examples of what, from now on, will be referred to as “optical devices” or “nonlinear optical components”.
- a further category of application include “sensor devices” such as bio-chemical sensors and photodetectors .
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful in soft lithography processes.
- the invention provides Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer, such as polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethyl- methylphenylsiloxane, polymethyl-phenylsiloxane, polyphenyl-T resin, polyfluorosilicones, tetramethyltetra- phenyltrisiloxane, silanes or mixtures thereof
- a silicone polymer such as polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethyl- methylphenylsiloxane, polymethyl-phenylsiloxane, polyphenyl-T resin, polyfluorosilicones, tetramethyltetra- phenyltrisiloxane, silanes or mixtures thereof
- the invention provides optical and sensor devices comprising a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a carbon vapor deposition apparatus useful for making single-walled carbon nanotubes which can be used in the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention.
- a substrate 10 having a catalyst (not shown) on its surface is placed in a quartz furnace 12 and the furnace is preheated, via suitable operation of temperature controllers 13.
- argon gas and hydrogen gas are mixed at flow meter 18 to provide a carrier gas which is bubbled into into a pool of liquid ethanol 20.
- the flow of the ethanol- enriched carrier gas is then directed (via 4-way valve 22) into the pre-heated furnace where the ethanol vapor reacts with the catalyst to form single-walled carbon nanotubes.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a general procedure useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions .
- one or more nanomaterials is taken up in an appropriate solvent and the mixture is sonicated to provide a dispersed nanomaterial solution.
- the silicone polymer is taken up in an appropriate solvent and sonicated to provide a dispersed polymer solution.
- the dispersed nanomaterial solution and the dispersed polymer solution are then mixed and sonicated to provide a nanomaterial/polymer suspension which is subjected to centrifugation to remove nanomaterial aggregates and provide a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another general procedure useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions.
- one or more nanomaterials is combined with a liquid silicone polymer and the resultant mixture is sonicated to provide a disperson of nanomaterial in the polymer.
- the dispersion is then subjected to fast mixing followed by ultracentrifugation to provide a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating how a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the invention can be cured to provide a film, wherein said film can be formed directly on a optical circuit and used as an optical circuit component, or alternatively, the composition can be cured using UV radiation, heat or chemical-induced cross-linking to provide a stand-alone film which can be used as an optical circuit component or an optical or sensor device.
- FIG. 5 depicts optical aborption spectra of a particular silicone polymer and of a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention which comprises the same silicone polymer and single-walled carbon nanotubes .
- FIG. 5 (a) depicts the optical absorption spectrum of a commercially available two-component optical elastomer, and a composition of the invention comprising the same elastomer and a plurality of single-walled carbon nanotubes .
- the line denoted (X) represents a composition of the present invention, wherein the composition comprises: (i) a commercially available two-component optical elastomer (OE- 4110, Dow Corning) and (ii) a plurality of single-walled carbon nanotubes (0.2% by total weight of the composition).
- the dark and shaded solid lines with no marking denote separately the optical absorption spectrum for each individual component of the optical elastomer (OE-4110, Dow Corning) .
- the x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y- axis represents absorbance.
- FIG. 5(b) represents the normalized absorption spectra of the single-walled carbon nanotube/optical elastomer composition, wherein the x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y-axis represents absorbance .
- the present invention provides Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer.
- the invention provides methods for using the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions as stand-alone optical or sensor devices or as components of a photonic system.
- the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are useful as filter devices, interferometers, and for applications such as noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode-locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation, dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, soliton stabilization, microcavity applications, and for optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention comprise a nanomaterial and a silicone polymer.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be a liquid form (e.g., a solution) or in the form of a thin film, wherein the thin film may be a stand-alone film, or alternatively, the film may be affixed to a substrate, such as quartz, glass, or a mirror.
- a substrate such as quartz, glass, or a mirror.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct an optical or sensor device, a lens, a prism, a polarization plate, a fiber end, a fiber surface, a waveguide facet, a waveguide surface, or a laser material surface.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition may also be affixed onto a substrate and molded in any desired shape to serve as a sensor device or as an optical or photonic component of an optical device. Similar applications can also be achieved using the Optical Nanomaterial Composition in its liquid form by containing it in a suitable optical cell.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is affixed to a quartz substrate.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is affixed to a glass substrate. In still another embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is affixed to a mirror.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct an optical or sensor device.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a lens.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a prism.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a polarization plate.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a fiber end.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a fiber surface.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a waveguide facet.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a waveguide surface.
- a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a laser material surface.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises a plurality of nanomaterials dispersed in a silicone polymer matrix.
- the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises one or more carbon nanotubes dispersed in a silicone polymer matrix.
- the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises one or more single-walled carbon nanotube dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane .
- the composition when a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is in liquid form, the composition may further comprise a solvent, such as water, organic solvents, inorganic solvents, or any mixture thereof, where the Nanomaterial Polymer
- Composition can be contained in a suitable optical or sensing cell.
- the refractive index of Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be fine-tuned by controlling the concentration of the one or more nanomaterials in the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition, as well as by adjusting the concentrations of the components forming the silicone polymer.
- the total amount of nanomaterial present in a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is from about 0.0001% to about 99% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In one embodiment, the nanomaterial is present in an amount of from about 0.01% to about 20% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In various embodiments, the nanomaterial is present an amount of less than about 20%, less than about 15%, less than about 10%, less than about 5%, less than about 1%, less than about 0.5%, less than about 0.1%, and and less than 0.01% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two or more distinct nanomaterials .
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two different types of nanocrystal populations or a nanotube popluation and a nanoparticle population.
- the nanomaterial is randomly oriented in the silicone polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is arranged in a regularly oriented array within the silicone polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- nanomaterial refers to a structure having at least one dimension of less than about 500 ran.
- a nanomaterial has at least one dimension of less than about 200 nm, less than about 100 run, less than about 50 nm, less than about 20 nm or less than about 10 nm.
- each of the three dimensions of the nanomaterial has a dimension of less than about 500 nm, less than about 200 nm, less than about 100 nm, less than about 50 nm, less than about 20 nm or less than about 10 nm.
- Illustrative nanomaterials useful in compositions of the invention include, but are not limited to, a single or multi- walled nanotube, a nanowire, a nanodot, a quantum dot, a nanorod, a nanocrystal, a nanotetrapod, a nanotripod, a nanobipod, a nanoparticle, a nanosaw, a nanospring, a nanoribbon, a branched tetrapod or any other branched nanomaterial, or any mixture thereof.
- the nanomaterial can comprise organic materials, inorganic materials or a mixture thereof .
- the nanomaterial is a single-walled carbon nanotube .
- the nanomaterials may have a monocrystalline structure, a double-crystal structure, a polycrystalline structure, an amorphous structure, or a combination thereof.
- the nanomaterials can comprise following elements or compounds: Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ni, Co, Ti, Mo, W, Mn, Ir, Cr, Fe, C, Si, Ge, B, Sn, SiGe, SiC, SiSn, GeC, BN, InP, InN, InAs, InSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, AlN, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, CdO, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, ZnO, ZnS, ZnSe, ZnTe, MgO, MgS, MgSe, MgTe, HgO, HgS, HgSe, HgTe, PbO, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, GeS, GeSe, GeTe, SnS, SnSe, SnTe, InO, SnO, GeO, WO, TiO, FeO, MnO, CoO, NiO
- the nanomaterial comprises Si.
- the nanomaterials can also comprise metallic or non-metallic alloys other than those listed above, a polymer, a conductive polymer, a ceramic material, or any combination thereof.
- the nanomaterial comprises a semiconductive material .
- the semiconductive material may futher comprise a dopant.
- Dopants useful in the present invention include, but are not limited to: a p-type dopant, such as Li, B, Al, In, Mg, Zn, Cd, Hg, C, Si, an element from Group I of the periodic table, an element from Group II of the periodic table, an element from Group III of the periodic table or an element from Group IV of the periodic table; or an n-type dopant, such as, Si, Ge, Sn, S, Se, Te, P, As, Sb, Cl, or an element from group IV of the periodic table, an element from group V of the periodic table, an element from group VI of the periodic table, an element from group VII of the periodic table.
- the dopant is a p-type dopant.
- the dopant is an n-type dopant.
- the nanomaterial is a nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon
- the nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon can comprise a conductive or semiconductive material, such as an organic polymer, pentacene or a transition metal oxide.
- nanowire is defined as any elongated material as described herein that includes at least one cross-sectional dimension less than 500 nm and has an aspect ratio of greater than 10 and is understood to include “whiskers” or “nanowhiskers . "
- nanorod refers to an elongated material as described herein which has an aspect ratio less than that of a nanowire.
- the nanomaterial is a nanotube.
- the nanomaterial is an inorganic single or multi-walled nanotube.
- the nanomaterial is single-walled carbon nanotube .
- the nanomaterial is a nanowire.
- the nanomaterial is a nanodot. In still another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a quantum dot.
- the nanomaterial is a nanorod.
- the nanomaterial is a nanocrystal.
- the nanomaterial is a nanotetrapod.
- the nanomaterial is a nanotripod.
- the nanomaterial is a nanobipod.
- the nanomaterial is a nanoparticle .
- the nanomaterial is a nanosaw.
- the nanomaterial is a nanospring.
- the nanomaterial is a nanoribbon.
- the nanomaterial is a branched nanomaterial .
- the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises more than one type of nanomaterial.
- the nanomaterial is a nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon
- the nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon can comprise a conductive or semiconductive material, such as an organic polymer, pentacene or a transition metal oxide.
- the nanomaterials may be obtained using any known methods, including, but not limited to, solution-based methods, vapor- phase methods or high-temperature substrate-based methods, such as those described in Greene et al . , Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. £2:3031-3034 (2003) and International Publication No. WO 02/017362.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two or more distinct nanomaterials .
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two different types of nanocrystal populations or a nanotube popluation and a nanoparticle population.
- the nanomaterial is randomly oriented in the polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is arranged in a regularly oriented array within the polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- the nanomaterial can be functionalized.
- Functionalization refers to the chemical or physical treatment of the nanomaterial surface aimed at modifying and optimizing charcateristics such as nanomaterial dispersion and solubility in a host polymer matrix, as well as sensitivity in sensing and detection applications
- the invention provides Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more single-walled carbon nanotubes and a silicone polymer.
- Single-walled carbon nanotubes are rolled up graphene sheets. Their twist or chirality defines their optical and electrical properties.
- single-walled carbon nanotubes useful in the present invention have a diameter of from about 0.1 run to about 10 nm.
- the single-walled carbon nanotubes have a diameter of from about 0.5 nm to about 3 nm.
- the single-walled carbon nanotubes have a diameter of from about 1.0 nm to about 1.5 nm.
- single-walled carbon nanotubes useful in the present invention have lengths of from about 0.01 ⁇ m to about 100 ⁇ m.
- the diameter distribution and concentration of nanotubes in in a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be manipulated to optimize the optical properties of such compositions.
- the single-walled carbon nanotubes may be commercially available or, alternatively, can be made by any known means including, but not limited to, a chemical vapor deposition process, a laser ablation process, an arc process, a fluid bed process or a gas-phase process using carbon monoxide.
- Processes for making single-walled carbon nanotubes include those disclosed, for example, in Liu et al . , Science 280:1253-1256 (1998); M. Bronikowski et al . , J. Vacuum Sci . Tech. A 19_: 1800-1805 (2001); U.S. Patent No . 6,183,714;
- Single-walled carbon nanotubes can further purified prior to incorporation into a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention using, for example, the methods set forth in International Publication No. WO 02/064,868, which discloses a halogenated gas-phase purification process; or International Publication No. WO 02/064,869, which discloses a process comprising first oxiding the nanotubes, then reacting the oxidized nanotubes with a halogenated acid, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
- the optoelectronic properties of carbon nanotube compositions can improve dramatically with increasing nanotube purity. It has been reported that high- purity carbon nanotube-containing polymer films can achieve up to 90% visible-light transmittance.
- the nanomaterial can be functionalized.
- Functionalization refers to the chemical or physical treatment of the nanomaterial surface aimed at modifying and optimizing charcateristics such as nanomaterial dispersion and solubility in a host polymer matrix, as well as sensitivity in sensing and detection applications
- the single-walled carbon nanotubes are present in a
- Nanomaterial Polymer Composition in an amount of from about 0.0001% to about 99% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- the single-walled carbon nanotubes are present in an amount of from about 0.01% to about 20% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- the single-walled carbon nanotubes are in an amount of less than about 20%, less than about 15%, less than about 10%, less than about 5%, less than about 1%, less than about 0.5%, less than about 0.1%, and and less than 0.01% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- Silicone polymers such as polydimethylsiloxane, have outstanding properties including easy processing, good thermal stablility and good optical and mechanical properties. Depending on their structure, silicone polymer can be highly transparent in the telecommunications windows with tunable refractive index .
- Polymer Compositions of the present invention include but are not limted to silicone-based polymers and siloxane-based polymers, such as polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethyl- methylphenylsiloxane, polymethyl-phenylsiloxane, polyphenyl-T resin, polyfluorosilicones, tetramethyltetra- phenyltrisiloxane, silanes or mixtures thereof.
- the silicone polymers may be prepared synthetically using known methods, or alternatively, may be bought from a commercial source.
- the silicone polymer is polydimethylsiloxane .
- the silicone polymer is polydimethyl- methylphenylsiloxane .
- the silicone polymer is polymethyl-phenylsiloxane .
- the silicone polymer is polyphenyl-T resin.
- the silicone polymer is a polyfluorosilicone .
- the silicone polymer is tetramethyltetra-phenyltrisiloxane
- the silicone polymer is OE-4110 or OE- 4200 (Dow Corning, MI) .
- the silicone polymer is comprised of more than one component.
- the components may be combined before the nanomaterial is added to the polymer, or alternatively, the nanomaterial may be added to one component or a mixture of more than one, but not all, of the components of the silicone polymer. The remaining components of the silicone polymer are then added to the resultant nanomaterial-containing mixture.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions Some general methods useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions include those disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,878,871 to Scher et al , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention wherein the nanomaterial is a carbon nanotube, can be made using the methods disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 6,782,154 to Zhao et al . , which discloses a method useful for making nanotube polymer compositions using sonication to disperse a nanomaterial in a polymer matrix; International Publication No. WO 03/040026 to Connell et al . , which discloses a method useful for making nanostrucuture polymer compositions using both low-shear and high-shear mixing techniques to disperse a nanomaterial in a polymer matrix; and Breuer et al . , Polymer Composite, 25:630-645 (2004), which discloses useful methods for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention.
- Each of these references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Composition films can be prepared using the methodology disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,782,154 to Zhao et al., which discloses subjecting a nanotube/polymer suspension to a baking/UV curing process for making nanotube polymer films in a petri dish; and International Publication No. WO 03/040026 to Connell et al . , which discloses methods useful for making nanotube/polymer films using chemical polymerization methods, each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising nanoparticles are disclosed in Iwamoto, et al., Eur. Phys. J. D 24, 365-367 (2003), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention A general method useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention is set forth below.
- One or more nanomaterials is suspended in a solvent or suspended directly into the polymer material of choice, and the resultant mixture is ultra-sonicated for a period of from about 30 seconds to about 48 hours.
- the sonication serves to evenly disperse the nanomaterial and to break up any nanomaterial aggregates.
- a polymer resin is dissolved in a solvent using sonication.
- the nanomaterial solution and the polymer solution are then mixed together and sonicated to provide a uniform suspension of the nanomaterial in a polymer solution.
- the suspension is then subjected to ultracentrifugation using centrifugal force of up to 1,000,000 g to provide a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition which may be used as is in solution or gel form or can be further concentrated in vacuo or by baking.
- Solvents useful in the methods for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention include water, organic solvents, inorganic solvents, halogenated organic solvents, or mixtures thereof.
- Illustrative solvents include, but are not limited to, water, D 2 O, acetone, ethanol, dioxane, ethyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, isopropanol, anisole, ⁇ -butyrolactone, dimethylformamide, N- methylpyrroldinone , dimethylacetamide, hexamethylphosphoramide, toluene, dimethylsulfoxide, cyclopentanone, tetramethylene sulfoxide, xylene, ⁇ - caprolactone, tetrahydrofuran, tetrachloroethylene, chloroform, cfhlorobenzene, dichloromethane, 1,2- deichloroethane, 1 , 1, 2 , 2-te
- the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can further comprise a surfactant to assist in stabilizing the nanomaterial suspension.
- surfactants useful in the present methods include cationic, anionic, nonionic or amphoteric surfactants, water-soluble polymers, and DNA, RNA and other bio-compounds.
- Illustrative examples of surfactants include those disclosed in International Publication No. Wo 04/097853 to Grunlan et al . , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
- a nanomaterial/polymer solution as prepared above is poured into a dish and the solvent is removed via baking at an appropriate temperature. The resultant residue is then subjected to UV radiation to cure the polymer resin.
- the present invention relates to Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer and their use in optical applications.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention when in the form of a film, a liquid or a waveguide or other bulk device and/or circuit, are useful as filter devices, interferometers, and for applications such as noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode-locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation, dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, soliton stabilization, microcavity applications, and for optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful in soft lithography processes or as optical circuit components.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions films are useful as Nonlinear Optical Componets .
- a nonlinear optical material which possesses the following characteristics: (1) large nonlinear succeptibility; (2) low optical loss in the operating wavelength range; and (3) a high relaxation speed.
- compositions comprising single-walled carbon nanotubes and polymers have an ultrafast carrier dynamics with a recovery time of less than 1 ps at a wavelength of about 1.55 ⁇ m, and also have a high third-order polarizability caused by saturable absorption. Accordingly, such compositions are of great interest in terms of their possible applications in high-speed optical communication devices, such as optical switches. See Chen et al . , App. Phys. Lett. 8 ⁇ :975-977 (2002) and U.S. Patent No. 6,782,154 to Zhao et al . , each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful as saturable absorbers.
- Saturable absorbers are can be used for ultrafast laser pulse generation and pulse reshaping to enhance the performance of high data rate fiber optic transmission.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are useful for noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode-locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, soliton stabilization, and for microcavity applications .
- the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful as interferometers or filter devices.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be incorporated into an actively controlled device to achieve optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be directly put into an optical fiber loop for switch applications .
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be fabricated onto an integrated optical or photonic waveguide component.
- an optical switch or a waveguide comprises a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition disposed on a substrate, such as such as quartz, glass, or a mirror to construct an optical or sensor device; or a lens, prism, polarization plate, a fiber end, a fiber surface, a waveguide facet, a waveguide surface, or a laser material surface.
- a switch comprising a Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions can be interconnected to other optical devices on a chip using a waveguide comprising a Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions.
- a Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions film is affixed to a substrate such as quartz, glass, or a mirror to construct an optical or sensor device, a lens, a prism, a polarization plate, a fiber end, a fiber surface, a waveguide facet, a waveguide surface, or a laser material surface.
- the coated region of the substrate can be employed as a saturable absorber.
- the saturable absorption properties can be fine-tuned by selecting specific nanomaterials and by varying the nanomaterial preparation and their concentration in the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
- Soft Lithography Soft lithography techniques, such as near-field phase shift lithography, replica molding, micromolding in capillaries, microtransfer molding, hot embossing, solvent-assisted microcontace molding and microcontact printing, can be used to make new types of nanoscale electronic, optical and sensor devices with critical dimensions as small as 30 run. These techniques employ transparent polymer stamps to generate features on a substrate. Accordingly, the unique and fine- tunable optical features of the Nanomaterial Polymer
- compositions of the present invention make the compositions especially suitable for use as stamps in soft lithography.
- Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions can be patterned using any lithographic technique amenable to such polymer composition materials.
- the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions can ink jet printed.
- a catalyst-containing substrate such as a Si wafer patterned with an iron oxide/molybdenum catalyst, is placed in the middle of a quartz tube furnace that is at room temperature, and a flow of an inert gas, such as argon, is introduced into the furnace.
- the furnace is then heated from room temperature to a temperature of between 700 0 C and 900 0 C and a carbon feedstock gas, such as methane gas, is delivered to the furnace, where it reacts with the catalyst to form carbon nanotubes that grow in the direction of the flow of the carbon feedstock gas .
- the resultant reaction is allowed to take place for a period of from about 10 minutes to about 1 hour to provide single-walled carbon nanotubes.
- Nanotubes produced by such a chemical vapor deposition method may be used as is in the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention or may be further purified prior to use.
- the mixture was then dispersed for about 1 hour using stong ultrasonic treatment in a Diogenode Nanoruptor system at a power of 400W and frequency of 20 kHz and the resultant adduct was mixed using a high-speed mixer at 24000 RPM for about 20 minutes to provide a crude composition as a dark colored, transparent, viscous liquid.
- the liquid crude composition was then subjected to ultra-centifugation using centrifugal force of up to 200,000 g for one hour in a unltracentrifuge (Beckman Coutler Optima MAX-E) and to the resultant adduct was added part B of the optical elastomer to provide an illustrative composition of the invention as a dark-colored liquid, which is used immediately due to the chemical curing process initiated upon the addition of part B of the optical elastomer.
- a unltracentrifuge Beckman Coutler Optima MAX-E
- the absorption spectra of the composition is depicted in FIG. 5 (a) by the line denoted (X) wherein the dark and shaded solid lines with no marking denote separately the optical absorption spectrum for each individual component of the optical elastomer.
- the x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y-axis represents absorbance.
- FIG. 5 (b) represents the ' normalized absorption spectra of the composition, wherein the x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y-axis represents absorbance .
Landscapes
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Nanotechnology (AREA)
- Organic Chemistry (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Composite Materials (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Materials Engineering (AREA)
- Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
- Compositions Of Macromolecular Compounds (AREA)
Abstract
The present invention is directed to compositions ('Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions') comprising a silicone polymer and a nanomaterial, including but not limited to, a single or multi-walled nanotube, a nanowire, a nanodot, a quantum dot, a nanorod, a nanocrystal, a nanotetrapod, a nanotripod, a nanobipod, a nanoparticle, a nanosaw, a nanospring, a nanoribbon, a branched nanomaterial, or any combination thereof. The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are useful for optical and sensing devices including but not limited to noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode-locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation or filter devices, dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, a soliton stabilization, microcavity applications, interferometers; optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation; and biochemical sensors and photodetectors. The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful in soft lithography processes.
Description
NANOMATERIAL POLYMER COMPOSITIONS AMD USES THEREOF
All patents, patent applications and publications cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The disclosures of these publications in their entireties are incorporated herein by reference into this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art as known to those skilled therein as of the date of the invention described and claimed herein.
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer. The compositions are useful in optoelectronic, photonic and sensing applications.
2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The incorporation of nanomaterials into polymer matrices has resulted in compositions that exhibit increased thermal stability, modulus, strength, and enhanced electrical and optical properties. Nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes , are of great interest to researchers in various fields, including chemistry, physics, materials science, and electrical engineering, due to their unique structures and unique electrical, mechanical, electro-optical and electromechanical properties. As such, nanomaterials show
promise as components for electronic, optical and sensor devices .
Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes in 1991, the unique properties of these nanomaterials have inspired interest in using carbon nanotubes as a filler in polymer composition systems to obtain ultra-light structural materials with enhanced electrical, thermal and optical characteristics. The prospect of obtaining advanced nanocompositions with multifunctional features, e.g., materials used for structures, and electrical conductors, has attracted the efforts of researchers in both academia and industry.
Organic and inorganic nanomaterials, such as single or multi- walled nanotubes, nanowires, nanodots, quantum dots, nanorods , nanocrystals, nanotetrapods, nanotripods, nanobipods , nanoparticles , nanosaws, nanosprings, nanoribbons, or branched nanomaterials, are of great interest to researchers in various fields such as chemistry, physics, materials science, and electrical engineering, due to their unique structures and unique electrical, mechanical, electro- optical and electromechanical properties . Accordingly, these nanomaterials show promise as components for electronic, optical and sensor devices .
Recently, the nonlinear optical properties of materials such as carbon nanotubes and PbSe and PbS quantum dots have attracted a great deal of interest. By "nonlinear optical properties" we refer to the nonlinear variations of the optical characteristics of a given material with changes in the intensity and power of incident and/or transmitted light.
A typical example of nonlinear optical property is the saturable absorption of a material. In this case the material's optical absporption decreases nonlinearIy with increased intensity and/or power of the incident light, up to a point where the material gets "bleached", i.e. it becomes transparent to the incident light and allows almost unperturbed light transmission.
Some experimental studies have concentrated on the saturable absorption properties of carbon nanotube suspensions, nanotube-polymer compositions and PbSe nanoparticle solutions. These studies demonstrate that nanotubes, and nanomaterials in general, can exhibit very strong third-order optical nonlinearity. In addition, nanotubes and nanomaterials show ultrafast dynamics. These properties make nanotubes and nanomaterials attractive materials for use in numerous applications in the fields of optics, electronics and photonics .
Despite the great strides made in this area of nanotechnology, there exists a need in the art for nanomaterial polymer compositions having improved physical, mechanical and optical properties . This invention addresses that need.
3. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to compositions ("Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions") comprising: (i) a silicone polymer and (ii) a nanomaterial, such as a single or multi-walled nanotube, a nanowire, a nanodot, a quantum dot,
a nanorod, a nanocrystal, a nanotetrapod, a nanotripod, a nanobipod, a nanoparticle, a nanosaw, a nanospring, a nanoribbon, a branched tetrapod or any other branched nanomaterial, or any mixture thereof. The nanomaterial can be organic or inorganic .
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are useful as in optical and photonic circuits for appliations including but not limited to noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode- locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation or filter devices, dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, a soliton stabilization, microcavity applications, interferometers; and optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation. These are examples of what, from now on, will be referred to as "optical devices" or "nonlinear optical components".
A further category of application include "sensor devices" such as bio-chemical sensors and photodetectors .
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful in soft lithography processes.
In one aspect, the invention provides Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer, such as polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethyl- methylphenylsiloxane, polymethyl-phenylsiloxane, polyphenyl-T resin, polyfluorosilicones, tetramethyltetra- phenyltrisiloxane, silanes or mixtures thereof
In another aspect, the invention provides optical and sensor devices comprising a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
The present invention may be understood more fully by reference to the following detailed description, which is intended to exemplify non-limiting embodiments of the invention.
4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a carbon vapor deposition apparatus useful for making single-walled carbon nanotubes which can be used in the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention. In this apparatus, a substrate 10 having a catalyst (not shown) on its surface is placed in a quartz furnace 12 and the furnace is preheated, via suitable operation of temperature controllers 13. To carry out the carbon-vapor deposition procedure, argon gas and hydrogen gas (provided by cylinders 14 and 16 respectively) are mixed at flow meter 18 to provide a carrier gas which is bubbled into into a pool of liquid ethanol 20. The flow of the ethanol- enriched carrier gas is then directed (via 4-way valve 22) into the pre-heated furnace where the ethanol vapor reacts with the catalyst to form single-walled carbon nanotubes.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a general procedure useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions . In this method, one or more nanomaterials is taken up in an appropriate solvent and the mixture is sonicated to provide a
dispersed nanomaterial solution. In a separate vessel, the silicone polymer is taken up in an appropriate solvent and sonicated to provide a dispersed polymer solution. The dispersed nanomaterial solution and the dispersed polymer solution are then mixed and sonicated to provide a nanomaterial/polymer suspension which is subjected to centrifugation to remove nanomaterial aggregates and provide a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another general procedure useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions. In this method, one or more nanomaterials is combined with a liquid silicone polymer and the resultant mixture is sonicated to provide a disperson of nanomaterial in the polymer. The dispersion is then subjected to fast mixing followed by ultracentrifugation to provide a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating how a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the invention can be cured to provide a film, wherein said film can be formed directly on a optical circuit and used as an optical circuit component, or alternatively, the composition can be cured using UV radiation, heat or chemical-induced cross-linking to provide a stand-alone film which can be used as an optical circuit component or an optical or sensor device.
FIG. 5 depicts optical aborption spectra of a particular silicone polymer and of a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention which comprises the same silicone polymer and single-walled carbon nanotubes . Specifically,
FIG. 5 (a) depicts the optical absorption spectrum of a commercially available two-component optical elastomer, and a composition of the invention comprising the same elastomer and a plurality of single-walled carbon nanotubes . The line denoted (X) represents a composition of the present invention, wherein the composition comprises: (i) a commercially available two-component optical elastomer (OE- 4110, Dow Corning) and (ii) a plurality of single-walled carbon nanotubes (0.2% by total weight of the composition). The dark and shaded solid lines with no marking denote separately the optical absorption spectrum for each individual component of the optical elastomer (OE-4110, Dow Corning) . The x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y- axis represents absorbance. FIG. 5(b) represents the normalized absorption spectra of the single-walled carbon nanotube/optical elastomer composition, wherein the x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y-axis represents absorbance .
5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect, the present invention provides Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer. In another aspect the invention provides methods for using the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions as stand-alone optical or sensor devices or as components of a photonic system. In various embodiments, the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are useful as filter devices, interferometers, and for applications such as noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode-locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration,
phase conjugation, dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, soliton stabilization, microcavity applications, and for optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation.
5.1 The Nanomatβrial Polymer Compositions
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention comprise a nanomaterial and a silicone polymer.
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be a liquid form (e.g., a solution) or in the form of a thin film, wherein the thin film may be a stand-alone film, or alternatively, the film may be affixed to a substrate, such as quartz, glass, or a mirror. A substrate having. a
Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct an optical or sensor device, a lens, a prism, a polarization plate, a fiber end, a fiber surface, a waveguide facet, a waveguide surface, or a laser material surface. A Nanomaterial Polymer Composition may also be affixed onto a substrate and molded in any desired shape to serve as a sensor device or as an optical or photonic component of an optical device. Similar applications can also be achieved using the Optical Nanomaterial Composition in its liquid form by containing it in a suitable optical cell.
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is affixed to a quartz substrate.
In another embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is affixed to a glass substrate.
In still another embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is affixed to a mirror.
In one embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct an optical or sensor device.
In another embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a lens.
In still another embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a prism.
In yet another embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a polarization plate.
In a further embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a fiber end.
In another embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a fiber surface.
In another embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a waveguide facet.
In still another embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a waveguide surface.
In a further embodiment, a substrate having a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition film affixed to it can be used to construct a laser material surface.
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises a plurality of nanomaterials dispersed in a silicone polymer matrix.
In one embodiment, the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises one or more carbon nanotubes dispersed in a silicone polymer matrix.
In a specific embodiment, the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises one or more single-walled carbon nanotube dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane .
In one embodiment, when a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is in liquid form, the composition may further comprise a solvent, such as water, organic solvents, inorganic solvents, or any mixture thereof, where the Nanomaterial Polymer
Composition can be contained in a suitable optical or sensing cell.
The refractive index of Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be fine-tuned by controlling the concentration of the one or more nanomaterials in the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition,
as well as by adjusting the concentrations of the components forming the silicone polymer.
The total amount of nanomaterial present in a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is from about 0.0001% to about 99% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In one embodiment, the nanomaterial is present in an amount of from about 0.01% to about 20% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In various embodiments, the nanomaterial is present an amount of less than about 20%, less than about 15%, less than about 10%, less than about 5%, less than about 1%, less than about 0.5%, less than about 0.1%, and and less than 0.01% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two or more distinct nanomaterials . For example a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two different types of nanocrystal populations or a nanotube popluation and a nanoparticle population.
In one embodiment, the nanomaterial is randomly oriented in the silicone polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is arranged in a regularly oriented array within the silicone polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
5.2 The Nanomaterial
The term "nanomaterial" as used herein, refers to a structure having at least one dimension of less than about 500 ran. In
various embodiments , a nanomaterial has at least one dimension of less than about 200 nm, less than about 100 run, less than about 50 nm, less than about 20 nm or less than about 10 nm. In other embodiments, each of the three dimensions of the nanomaterial has a dimension of less than about 500 nm, less than about 200 nm, less than about 100 nm, less than about 50 nm, less than about 20 nm or less than about 10 nm.
Illustrative nanomaterials useful in compositions of the invention include, but are not limited to, a single or multi- walled nanotube, a nanowire, a nanodot, a quantum dot, a nanorod, a nanocrystal, a nanotetrapod, a nanotripod, a nanobipod, a nanoparticle, a nanosaw, a nanospring, a nanoribbon, a branched tetrapod or any other branched nanomaterial, or any mixture thereof. The nanomaterial can comprise organic materials, inorganic materials or a mixture thereof .
In one embodiment, the nanomaterial is a single-walled carbon nanotube .
The nanomaterials may have a monocrystalline structure, a double-crystal structure, a polycrystalline structure, an amorphous structure, or a combination thereof.
The nanomaterials can comprise following elements or compounds: Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ni, Co, Ti, Mo, W, Mn, Ir, Cr, Fe, C, Si, Ge, B, Sn, SiGe, SiC, SiSn, GeC, BN, InP, InN, InAs, InSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, AlN, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, CdO, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, ZnO, ZnS, ZnSe, ZnTe, MgO, MgS, MgSe, MgTe, HgO,
HgS, HgSe, HgTe, PbO, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, GeS, GeSe, GeTe, SnS, SnSe, SnTe, InO, SnO, GeO, WO, TiO, FeO, MnO, CoO, NiO, CrO, VO, CuSn, CuF, CuCl, CuBr, CuI, AgF, AgCl, AgBr, AgI, CaCN2, BeSiN2, ZnGeP2, CdSnAs2, ZnSnSb2, CuGeP3, CuSi2P3/ Si3N4, Ge3N4, Al2O3, Al2CO, Inx0y, Snx0y, SiOx, GeOx, Wx0y, Tix0y, Fex0y, Mnx0y, Cox0y, Nix0y, Crx0y, Vx0y, or MSiO4, any alloys thereof, or any combination thereof, wherein x is an integer ranging from 1 to 5, y is an integer ranging from 1 to 5 , and M is selected from Zn, Cr, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, V, and Ti.
In one embodiment, the nanomaterial comprises Si.
The nanomaterials can also comprise metallic or non-metallic alloys other than those listed above, a polymer, a conductive polymer, a ceramic material, or any combination thereof.
In one embodiment, the nanomaterial comprises a semiconductive material .
When a nanomaterial comprises a semiconductive material, the semiconductive material may futher comprise a dopant. Dopants useful in the present invention include, but are not limited to: a p-type dopant, such as Li, B, Al, In, Mg, Zn, Cd, Hg, C, Si, an element from Group I of the periodic table, an element from Group II of the periodic table, an element from Group III of the periodic table or an element from Group IV of the periodic table; or an n-type dopant, such as, Si, Ge, Sn, S, Se, Te, P, As, Sb, Cl, or an element from group IV of the periodic table, an element from group V of the periodic table, an element from group VI of the periodic table, an element from group VII of the periodic table.
In one embodiment, the dopant is a p-type dopant.
In another embodiment, the dopant is an n-type dopant.
When the nanomaterial is a nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon, the nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon can comprise a conductive or semiconductive material, such as an organic polymer, pentacene or a transition metal oxide.
The term "nanowire" is defined as any elongated material as described herein that includes at least one cross-sectional dimension less than 500 nm and has an aspect ratio of greater than 10 and is understood to include "whiskers" or "nanowhiskers . " The term "nanorod" refers to an elongated material as described herein which has an aspect ratio less than that of a nanowire.
In one embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanotube.
In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is an inorganic single or multi-walled nanotube.
In a specific embodiment, the nanomaterial is single-walled carbon nanotube .
In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanowire.
In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanodot.
In still another embodiment , the nanomaterial is a quantum dot.
In yet another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanorod.
In a further embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanocrystal.
In still another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanotetrapod.
In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanotripod.
In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanobipod.
In yet another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanoparticle .
In yet another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanosaw.
In yet another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanospring.
In yet another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a nanoribbon.
In yet another embodiment, the nanomaterial is a branched nanomaterial .
In yet another embodiment, the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition comprises more than one type of nanomaterial.
When the nanomaterial is a nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon, the nanotube, nanowire or nanoribbon can comprise a
conductive or semiconductive material, such as an organic polymer, pentacene or a transition metal oxide.
The nanomaterials may be obtained using any known methods, including, but not limited to, solution-based methods, vapor- phase methods or high-temperature substrate-based methods, such as those described in Greene et al . , Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. £2:3031-3034 (2003) and International Publication No. WO 02/017362.
Methods for making nanocrystals are described, for example, in Puntes et al . , Science 291:2115-2117 (2001), U.S. Patent No. 6,306,736 to Alivastos et al . , U.S. Patent No. 6,225,198 to Alivastos et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,505,928 to Alivastos et al., U.S. Patent No. 6,048,616 to Gallagher et al., and U.S. Patent No. 5,990,479 to Weiss et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Methods for making nanowires are described, for example, in Gudiksen et al . , J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122:8801-8802 (2000), Gudkisen et al . , Appl . Phys . Lett. 7^:2214-2216 (2001), Gudiksen et al . , J. Phys. Chem. B 105:4062-4064, Morales et al., Science 291:208-211 (1998), Duan et al . , Adv. Mater. 12^:298-302 (2000), Cui et al . , J. Phys. Chem. B 105:5213-5216 (2000), Puentes et al . , Science 291: 2115-2117 (2001), Peng et al., Nature. 404:59-61 (2000), U.S. Patent No. 6,306,736 to Alivastos et al., U.S. Patent No. 6,225,198 to Alivastos et al., U.S. Patent No. 6,036,774 to Lieber et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,897,945 to Lieber et al. and U.S. Patent No. 5,997,832 to Lieber et al . , each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Methods for making nanoparticles are described, for example, in Liu et al . , J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123 :4344 (2001), U.S. Patent No. 6,413,489 to Ying et al., U.S. Patent No. 6,136,156 to El-Shall et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,690,807 to Clark et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two or more distinct nanomaterials . For example a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can comprise two different types of nanocrystal populations or a nanotube popluation and a nanoparticle population.
In one embodiment, the nanomaterial is randomly oriented in the polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In another embodiment, the nanomaterial is arranged in a regularly oriented array within the polymer matrix of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
To enhance or optimize the performance of the device or component in which the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is deployed, the nanomaterial can be functionalized. Functionalization refers to the chemical or physical treatment of the nanomaterial surface aimed at modifying and optimizing charcateristics such as nanomaterial dispersion and solubility in a host polymer matrix, as well as sensitivity in sensing and detection applications
5.2.1 Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
In one aspect, the invention provides Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more single-walled carbon nanotubes and a silicone polymer. Single-walled carbon nanotubes are rolled up graphene sheets. Their twist or chirality defines their optical and electrical properties. In one embodiment, single-walled carbon nanotubes useful in the present invention have a diameter of from about 0.1 run to about 10 nm. In another embodiment, the single-walled carbon nanotubes have a diameter of from about 0.5 nm to about 3 nm. In yet another embodiment, the single-walled carbon nanotubes have a diameter of from about 1.0 nm to about 1.5 nm.
In one embodiment, single-walled carbon nanotubes useful in the present invention have lengths of from about 0.01 μm to about 100 μm.
The diameter distribution and concentration of nanotubes in in a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be manipulated to optimize the optical properties of such compositions.
The single-walled carbon nanotubes may be commercially available or, alternatively, can be made by any known means including, but not limited to, a chemical vapor deposition process, a laser ablation process, an arc process, a fluid bed process or a gas-phase process using carbon monoxide. Processes for making single-walled carbon nanotubes, include those disclosed, for example, in Liu et al . , Science 280:1253-1256 (1998); M. Bronikowski et al . , J. Vacuum Sci . Tech. A 19_: 1800-1805 (2001); U.S. Patent No . 6,183,714;
International Publication No. WO 00/26138; .S. Dresselhaus et
al . , Carbon nanotubes, Topics of applied Physics 80, Springer (2001); S.Lebedkin et al . , Carbon _4£: 417-423 (2000); and International Publication No. WO 00/17102, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes, whether purchased or synthesized, can further purified prior to incorporation into a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition of the present invention using, for example, the methods set forth in International Publication No. WO 02/064,868, which discloses a halogenated gas-phase purification process; or International Publication No. WO 02/064,869, which discloses a process comprising first oxiding the nanotubes, then reacting the oxidized nanotubes with a halogenated acid, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The optoelectronic properties of carbon nanotube compositions can improve dramatically with increasing nanotube purity. It has been reported that high- purity carbon nanotube-containing polymer films can achieve up to 90% visible-light transmittance.
As described above, to enhance or optimize the performance of the device or component in which the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition is deployed, the nanomaterial can be functionalized. Functionalization refers to the chemical or physical treatment of the nanomaterial surface aimed at modifying and optimizing charcateristics such as nanomaterial dispersion and solubility in a host polymer matrix, as well as sensitivity in sensing and detection applications
The single-walled carbon nanotubes are present in a
Nanomaterial Polymer Composition in an amount of from about
0.0001% to about 99% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In one embodiment, the single-walled carbon nanotubes are present in an amount of from about 0.01% to about 20% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition. In various embodiments, the single-walled carbon nanotubes are in an amount of less than about 20%, less than about 15%, less than about 10%, less than about 5%, less than about 1%, less than about 0.5%, less than about 0.1%, and and less than 0.01% by total weight of the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
5.3 The Silicone Polymer
High-level integration in optical circuit components (such as integrated circuits) is desirable for the development of fiber optic communication systems. For such applications, the use of silicone polymers is attractive. Silicone polymers, such as polydimethylsiloxane, have outstanding properties including easy processing, good thermal stablility and good optical and mechanical properties. Depending on their structure, silicone polymer can be highly transparent in the telecommunications windows with tunable refractive index .
Silicone polymer useful as components of the Nanomaterial
Polymer Compositions of the present invention include but are not limted to silicone-based polymers and siloxane-based polymers, such as polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethyl- methylphenylsiloxane, polymethyl-phenylsiloxane, polyphenyl-T resin, polyfluorosilicones, tetramethyltetra- phenyltrisiloxane, silanes or mixtures thereof. The silicone
polymers may be prepared synthetically using known methods, or alternatively, may be bought from a commercial source.
In one embodiment, the silicone polymer is polydimethylsiloxane .
In another embodiment, the silicone polymer is polydimethyl- methylphenylsiloxane .
In still another embodiment, the silicone polymer is polymethyl-phenylsiloxane .
In yet another embodiment, the silicone polymer is polyphenyl-T resin.
In a further embodiment, the silicone polymer is a polyfluorosilicone .
In yet another embodiment, the silicone polymer is tetramethyltetra-phenyltrisiloxane
In specific embodiments, the silicone polymer is OE-4110 or OE- 4200 (Dow Corning, MI) .
In one embodiment, the silicone polymer is comprised of more than one component. When a silicone polymer is comprised of more than one component, the components may be combined before the nanomaterial is added to the polymer, or alternatively, the nanomaterial may be added to one component or a mixture of more than one, but not all, of the components of the silicone polymer. The remaining components of the
silicone polymer are then added to the resultant nanomaterial-containing mixture.
5.4 Making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions
Some general methods useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions include those disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,878,871 to Scher et al , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention, wherein the nanomaterial is a carbon nanotube, can be made using the methods disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 6,782,154 to Zhao et al . , which discloses a method useful for making nanotube polymer compositions using sonication to disperse a nanomaterial in a polymer matrix; International Publication No. WO 03/040026 to Connell et al . , which discloses a method useful for making nanostrucuture polymer compositions using both low-shear and high-shear mixing techniques to disperse a nanomaterial in a polymer matrix; and Breuer et al . , Polymer Composite, 25:630-645 (2004), which discloses useful methods for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention. Each of these references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Nanomaterial Polymer Composition films can be prepared using the methodology disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,782,154 to Zhao et al., which discloses subjecting a nanotube/polymer suspension to a baking/UV curing process for making nanotube polymer films in a petri dish; and International Publication No. WO 03/040026 to Connell et al . , which discloses methods
useful for making nanotube/polymer films using chemical polymerization methods, each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Methods for making Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising nanoparticles are disclosed in Iwamoto, et al., Eur. Phys. J. D 24, 365-367 (2003), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A general method useful for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention is set forth below.
One General Method for Making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compos!tions
One or more nanomaterials is suspended in a solvent or suspended directly into the polymer material of choice, and the resultant mixture is ultra-sonicated for a period of from about 30 seconds to about 48 hours. The sonication serves to evenly disperse the nanomaterial and to break up any nanomaterial aggregates. In a separate vessel, a polymer resin is dissolved in a solvent using sonication. The nanomaterial solution and the polymer solution are then mixed together and sonicated to provide a uniform suspension of the nanomaterial in a polymer solution. The suspension is then subjected to ultracentrifugation using centrifugal force of up to 1,000,000 g to provide a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition which may be used as is in solution or gel form or can be further concentrated in vacuo or by baking.
Solvents useful in the methods for making the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention include water, organic solvents, inorganic solvents, halogenated organic solvents, or mixtures thereof. Illustrative solvents include, but are not limited to, water, D2O, acetone, ethanol, dioxane, ethyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, isopropanol, anisole, γ-butyrolactone, dimethylformamide, N- methylpyrroldinone , dimethylacetamide, hexamethylphosphoramide, toluene, dimethylsulfoxide, cyclopentanone, tetramethylene sulfoxide, xylene, ε- caprolactone, tetrahydrofuran, tetrachloroethylene, chloroform, cfhlorobenzene, dichloromethane, 1,2- deichloroethane, 1 , 1, 2 , 2-tetrachloroethane, and mixtures thereof .
When the solvent comprises water, the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can further comprise a surfactant to assist in stabilizing the nanomaterial suspension. Surfactants useful in the present methods include cationic, anionic, nonionic or amphoteric surfactants, water-soluble polymers, and DNA, RNA and other bio-compounds. Illustrative examples of surfactants include those disclosed in International Publication No. Wo 04/097853 to Grunlan et al . , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
One General Procedure for Making a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition Film
A nanomaterial/polymer solution as prepared above is poured into a dish and the solvent is removed via baking at an
appropriate temperature. The resultant residue is then subjected to UV radiation to cure the polymer resin.
5.5 Uses of the Nanoitiaterial Polymer Compositions
The present invention relates to Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions comprising one or more nanomaterials and a silicone polymer and their use in optical applications.
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the invention, when in the form of a film, a liquid or a waveguide or other bulk device and/or circuit, are useful as filter devices, interferometers, and for applications such as noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode-locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation, dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, soliton stabilization, microcavity applications, and for optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation.
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful in soft lithography processes or as optical circuit components.
5.5.1 Nonlinear Optical Components
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions films are useful as Nonlinear Optical Componets . For such application, it is highly desirable to have a nonlinear optical material which possesses the following characteristics: (1) large nonlinear succeptibility; (2) low optical loss in the operating
wavelength range; and (3) a high relaxation speed. It has been reported that compositions comprising single-walled carbon nanotubes and polymers have an ultrafast carrier dynamics with a recovery time of less than 1 ps at a wavelength of about 1.55 μm, and also have a high third-order polarizability caused by saturable absorption. Accordingly, such compositions are of great interest in terms of their possible applications in high-speed optical communication devices, such as optical switches. See Chen et al . , App. Phys. Lett. 8^:975-977 (2002) and U.S. Patent No. 6,782,154 to Zhao et al . , each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful as saturable absorbers. Saturable absorbers are can be used for ultrafast laser pulse generation and pulse reshaping to enhance the performance of high data rate fiber optic transmission.
Due to their saturable absorption properties, the
Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are useful for noise suppression, passive Q-switching, mode-locking, waveform shaping, optical switching, optical signal regeneration, phase conjugation dispersion compensation, wavelength conversion, soliton stabilization, and for microcavity applications . The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions are also useful as interferometers or filter devices.
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be incorporated into an actively controlled device to achieve optical, magneto-optical or electro-optical modulation.
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be directly put into an optical fiber loop for switch applications .
In one embodiment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition can be fabricated onto an integrated optical or photonic waveguide component. In this case, an optical switch or a waveguide comprises a Nanomaterial Polymer Composition disposed on a substrate, such as such as quartz, glass, or a mirror to construct an optical or sensor device; or a lens, prism, polarization plate, a fiber end, a fiber surface, a waveguide facet, a waveguide surface, or a laser material surface.
In another embodiment, a switch comprising a Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions can be interconnected to other optical devices on a chip using a waveguide comprising a Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions.
In one embodment, a Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions film is affixed to a substrate such such as quartz, glass, or a mirror to construct an optical or sensor device, a lens, a prism, a polarization plate, a fiber end, a fiber surface, a waveguide facet, a waveguide surface, or a laser material surface. The coated region of the substrate can be employed as a saturable absorber. The saturable absorption properties can be fine-tuned by selecting specific nanomaterials and by varying the nanomaterial preparation and their concentration in the Nanomaterial Polymer Composition.
5.5.2 Soft Lithography
Soft lithography techniques, such as near-field phase shift lithography, replica molding, micromolding in capillaries, microtransfer molding, hot embossing, solvent-assisted microcontace molding and microcontact printing, can be used to make new types of nanoscale electronic, optical and sensor devices with critical dimensions as small as 30 run. These techniques employ transparent polymer stamps to generate features on a substrate. Accordingly, the unique and fine- tunable optical features of the Nanomaterial Polymer
Compositions of the present invention make the compositions especially suitable for use as stamps in soft lithography.
The Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions can be patterned using any lithographic technique amenable to such polymer composition materials.
In one embodiment, the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions can ink jet printed.
The present invention is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments disclosed in the examples which are intended as illustrations of a few aspects of the invention and any embodiments that are functionally equivalent are within the scope of this invention. Indeed, various modifications of the invention in addition to those shown and described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art and are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims .
6. EXAMPLES
6.1 Example 1 Preparation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Using a Chemical Vapor Deposition Method
A catalyst-containing substrate, such as a Si wafer patterned with an iron oxide/molybdenum catalyst, is placed in the middle of a quartz tube furnace that is at room temperature, and a flow of an inert gas, such as argon, is introduced into the furnace. The furnace is then heated from room temperature to a temperature of between 700 0C and 900 0C and a carbon feedstock gas, such as methane gas, is delivered to the furnace, where it reacts with the catalyst to form carbon nanotubes that grow in the direction of the flow of the carbon feedstock gas . The resultant reaction is allowed to take place for a period of from about 10 minutes to about 1 hour to provide single-walled carbon nanotubes. Nanotubes produced by such a chemical vapor deposition method may be used as is in the Nanomaterial Polymer Compositions of the present invention or may be further purified prior to use.
6.2 Example 2
Preparation of an Illustrative Nanomaterial Polymer Composition Comprising Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and a Siloxane-Based Optical Elastomer Single-walled carbon nanotubes were added to part A of a two- part silicone-based optical elastomer (OE 4110, Dow Corning, Midland, MI) , such that the carbon nanotubes were present in an amount of about 0.2% by total weight of the mixture. The mixture was then dispersed for about 1 hour using stong ultrasonic treatment in a Diogenode Nanoruptor system at a
power of 400W and frequency of 20 kHz and the resultant adduct was mixed using a high-speed mixer at 24000 RPM for about 20 minutes to provide a crude composition as a dark colored, transparent, viscous liquid. The liquid crude composition was then subjected to ultra-centifugation using centrifugal force of up to 200,000 g for one hour in a unltracentrifuge (Beckman Coutler Optima MAX-E) and to the resultant adduct was added part B of the optical elastomer to provide an illustrative composition of the invention as a dark-colored liquid, which is used immediately due to the chemical curing process initiated upon the addition of part B of the optical elastomer.
The absorption spectra of the composition is depicted in FIG. 5 (a) by the line denoted (X) wherein the dark and shaded solid lines with no marking denote separately the optical absorption spectrum for each individual component of the optical elastomer. The x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y-axis represents absorbance. FIG. 5 (b) represents the ' normalized absorption spectra of the composition, wherein the x-axis represents wavelength (nm) and the y-axis represents absorbance .
Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in the foregoing exemplary embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of implementation of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A composition comprising:
(a) one or more nanomaterials; and (b) a silicone polymer.
2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the silicone polymer is selected from the group consisting of polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethyl-methylphenylsiloxane, polymethyl-phenylsiloxane, polyphenyl-T resin, polyfluorosilicones, tetramethyltetra-phenyltrisiloxane, silanes and any mixture thereof.
3. The composition of claim 1, wherein the polymer comprises polydimethylsiloxane.
4. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the nanomaterial is selected from a group consisting of Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ni, Co, Ti, Mo, W, Mn, Ir, Cr, Fe, C, Si, Ge, B, Sn, SiGe, SiC, SiSn, GeC, BN, InP, InN, InAs, InSb, GaN, GaP,
GaAs, GaSb, AlN, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, CdO, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, ZnO, ZnS, ZnSe, ZnTe, MgO, MgS, MgSe, MgTe, HgO, HgS, HgSe, HgTe, PbO, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, GeS, GeSe, GeTe, SnS, SnSe, SnTe, InO, SnO, GeO, WO, TiO, FeO, MnO, CoO, NiO, CrO, VO, CuSn, CuF, CuCl, CuBr, CuI, AgF, AgCl, AgBr, AgI, CaCN2, BeSiN2, ZnGeP2, CdSnAs2, ZnSnSb2, CuGeP3, CuSi2P3, Si3N4, Ge3N4, Al2O3, Al2CO, Inx0y, Snx0y, SiOx, GeOx, Wx0y, TixOy, Fex0y, Mnx0y, Cox0y, Nix0y, Crx0y, Vx0y, MSiO4, any alloys thereof, and any combination thereof, wherein x is an integer ranging from 1 to 5, y is an integer ranging from 1 to 5, and M is selected from a group consisting of Zn, Cr, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, V, and Ti.
5. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the nanomaterial is selected from a group consisting of at least one nanotube, nanowire, nanodot, quantum dot, nanorod, nanocrystal, nanotetrapod, nanotripod, nanobipod, nanoparticle, nanospring, nanoribbon, and branched nanomaterial .
6. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the nanomaterial comprises at least one nanotube.
7. The composition of claim 6, wherein the nanotubes have a diameter of from about 0.01 nm to about 10 nm.
8. The composition of claim 7, wherein the nanotubes have a diameter between 0.5 nm and 1.5 nm.
9. The composition of claim 6, wherein the nanotubes comprise at least one single-walled carbon nanotube.
10. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 9 , wherein the nanomaterial is present in an amount of from about 0.0001 % to about 50 % by total weight of the composition.
11. The composition of claim 10, wherein the nanomaterial is present in an amount of from about 0.01 % to about 20% by total weight of the composition.
12. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the composition is in the form of a thin film or a liquid.
13. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the nanomaterials are arranged in the polymer in a random array.
14. The composition of claim 13, wherein the nanomaterials are nanotubes and the polymer is polydimethylsiloxane .
15. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the nanomaterial is arranged in the polymer in an ordered array.
16. The composition of claim 15, wherein the nanomaterials are nanotubes and the polymer is polydimethylsiloxane.
17. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the one or more nanomaterials each have a diameter of from about 1 nm to about 500 run and a length of from about 10 run to about 2 mm.
18. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the nanomaterials comprise nanomaterials purified from impurities .
19. The composition of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the nanomaterials comprise chemically or physically functionalized nanomaterials.
20. A device comprising: the composition of claim 1.
21. The device of claim 20, wherein the device is a nonlinear optical device or a sensor device.
22. The device of claim 21, wherein the composition is in the form of a thin film.
23. The device of claim 22, wherein the composition is applied to a substrate using spin coating.
24. The device of claim 22, wherein the thin film is affixed to a substrate.
25. The device of claim 24, wherein the substrate is quartz, glass, or a mirror.
26. The device of claim 21, wherein the composition is in the form of a liquid.
27. The device of claim 20, wherein the device is a lens, a prism, a polarization plate, a fiber end, a fiber surface, a waveguide facet, a waveguide surface, a portion of a laser, or a surface of a laser.
28. The device of claim 20, wherein the nanomaterial further comprises a dopant.
29. The device of claim 27, wherein the dopant is a p-type dopant .
30. The device of claim 27, wherein the dopant is an n-type dopant .
31. The device of claim 20, wherein the device is integrated into a photonic circuit.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US51348906A | 2006-08-31 | 2006-08-31 | |
| PCT/GB2007/003226 WO2008025962A1 (en) | 2006-08-31 | 2007-08-24 | Nanomaterial polymer compositions and uses thereof |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| EP2057212A1 true EP2057212A1 (en) | 2009-05-13 |
Family
ID=38670599
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EP07789313A Withdrawn EP2057212A1 (en) | 2006-08-31 | 2007-08-24 | Nanomaterial polymer compositions and uses thereof |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP2057212A1 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2008025962A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (13)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB0818563D0 (en) * | 2008-10-09 | 2008-11-19 | Cambridge Entpr Ltd | Polymer composite and method for its manufacture |
| RU2384916C1 (en) * | 2008-12-29 | 2010-03-20 | Учреждение Российской академии наук Физический институт им. П.Н. Лебедева РАН | Photoactive element |
| WO2010082932A1 (en) * | 2009-01-16 | 2010-07-22 | Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha | Ultrasensitive magnetic sensor based on giant faraday rotation |
| US8039547B2 (en) * | 2009-03-18 | 2011-10-18 | Eaton Corporation | Compositions for coating electrical interfaces including a nano-particle material and process for preparing |
| FR2943349B1 (en) | 2009-03-23 | 2012-10-26 | Arkema France | PROCESS FOR PREPARING ELASTOMERIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL HAVING HIGH NANOTUBE CONTENT |
| US20120039344A1 (en) * | 2009-04-13 | 2012-02-16 | Loh Ping Kian | Graphene-based saturable absorber devices and methods |
| CN102030309B (en) * | 2010-11-10 | 2012-08-15 | 中国科学院理化技术研究所 | Mn27Si47-Si heterostructure nanowire arrays or Mn27Si47Method for preparing nanowire array |
| CN102030310B (en) * | 2010-11-10 | 2012-08-15 | 中国科学院理化技术研究所 | Si/Mn27Si47Preparation method of core-shell structure nanowire array |
| CN102592716B (en) * | 2011-09-23 | 2014-06-11 | 长春理工大学 | Magnetic and optical dual-function coaxial nano cable and preparation method thereof |
| US9680072B2 (en) | 2013-03-05 | 2017-06-13 | Pacific Light Technologies Corp. | Quantum dot (QD) delivery method |
| US10202543B2 (en) | 2013-03-05 | 2019-02-12 | Osram Opto Semiconductors Gmbh | Quantum dot (QD) delivery method |
| US20140332723A1 (en) * | 2013-03-05 | 2014-11-13 | Juanita N. Kurtin | Quantum dot (qd) delivery method |
| CN113584620B (en) * | 2021-06-29 | 2022-06-14 | 中南大学 | Na3M2XO6Particle-assembled hollow fiber and preparation method and application thereof |
Citations (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2005096089A1 (en) * | 2004-04-02 | 2005-10-13 | National Institute Of Advanced Industrial Science And Technology | Saturable absorber of polyimide containing dispersed carbon nanotubes |
Family Cites Families (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7405854B2 (en) * | 2002-03-21 | 2008-07-29 | Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. | Fibrous micro-composite material |
| GB2402392A (en) * | 2002-04-01 | 2004-12-08 | World Properties Inc | Electrically conductive polymeric foams and elastomers and methods of manufacture therof |
| JP2003301110A (en) * | 2002-04-09 | 2003-10-21 | Sony Corp | Silicone compound |
| DE102004026576A1 (en) * | 2004-06-01 | 2005-12-29 | Infineon Technologies Ag | Silanized carbon nanotubes and method of making the same |
| CN101296981B (en) * | 2005-10-28 | 2012-04-04 | 纳诺塞尔股份有限公司 | Refractory composition |
-
2007
- 2007-08-24 EP EP07789313A patent/EP2057212A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2007-08-24 WO PCT/GB2007/003226 patent/WO2008025962A1/en not_active Ceased
Patent Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2005096089A1 (en) * | 2004-04-02 | 2005-10-13 | National Institute Of Advanced Industrial Science And Technology | Saturable absorber of polyimide containing dispersed carbon nanotubes |
| EP1772770A1 (en) * | 2004-04-02 | 2007-04-11 | National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology | Saturable absorber of polyimide containing dispersed carbon nanotubes |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
| Title |
|---|
| See also references of WO2008025962A1 * |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| WO2008025962A1 (en) | 2008-03-06 |
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| US8323789B2 (en) | Nanomaterial polymer compositions and uses thereof | |
| EP2057212A1 (en) | Nanomaterial polymer compositions and uses thereof | |
| EP2057211B1 (en) | Optical nanomaterial compositions | |
| Bakkers et al. | Synthesis of InP nanotubes | |
| Wang et al. | Inorganic and hybrid nanostructures for optical limiting | |
| Kang et al. | A novel solution process for the synthesis of VO2 thin films with excellent thermochromic properties | |
| US7892872B2 (en) | Silicon/germanium oxide particle inks, inkjet printing and processes for doping semiconductor substrates | |
| Shi et al. | Synthesis and nonlinear optical properties of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes at 1 μm | |
| JP2008538728A (en) | Nanowire dispersion composition and use thereof | |
| Hullavarad et al. | Synthesis and characterization of monodispersed CdS nanoparticles in SiO2 fibers by sol–gel method | |
| Tao et al. | Optical non-linearity in nano-and micro-crystallized glasses | |
| Jing et al. | In situ synthesis and third-order nonlinear optical properties of CdS/PVP nanocomposite films | |
| Bhandarkar | Sol–gel processing for optical communication technology | |
| Niu et al. | Aqueous corrosion of the GeSe4 chalcogenide glass: surface properties and corrosion mechanism | |
| Zheng et al. | Robust and efficient optical limiters based on molybdenum disulfide nanosheets embedded in solid-state heavy-metal oxide glasses | |
| Song et al. | Fabrication and characterization of Te/C nanocables and carbonaceous nanotubes | |
| JP4665171B2 (en) | SWNT saturable absorption optical material manufacturing method, pulse laser device, all-optical type optical switch device | |
| Bakhramov et al. | Synthesis of nanoscale fullerene C60 filaments in the volume of an evaporating drop of a molecular solution and preparation of thin nanostructured coatings on their basis | |
| Liu et al. | Interaction of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots: among themselves and with matrices | |
| Tan et al. | Capping the ball-milled CdSe nanocrystals for light excitation | |
| Abdulsada et al. | Effect of thermal annealing on properties of polycrystalline Titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin film prepared by simple chemical method | |
| Salim | Synthesis Of Linbo3 Microstructures: Structural, Optical And, Surface Morphologyu Sing Chemical Bath Deposition (Cbd) Method with Out Post Heat Treatment | |
| KR20070107439A (en) | Liquid crystal material, manufacturing method thereof and liquid crystal device using same | |
| Xu et al. | Linear and nonlinear optical characteristics of Te nanoparticles-doped germanate glasses | |
| Demeyer et al. | Sandwich Approach toward Inverse Opals with Linear and Nonlinear Optical Functionalities |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
| 17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 20090316 |
|
| AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A1 Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR |
|
| AX | Request for extension of the european patent |
Extension state: AL BA HR MK RS |
|
| 17Q | First examination report despatched |
Effective date: 20100707 |
|
| DAX | Request for extension of the european patent (deleted) | ||
| STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN |
|
| 18D | Application deemed to be withdrawn |
Effective date: 20140301 |