| NANOMETALLURGY |
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| UPDATED DECEMBER 10, 2005 |
| NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC. AND SHIMANE INSTITUTE FOR INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY (SIIT) TO COLLABORATE ON ALUMINUM ALLOYS WITH IMPROVED THERMO-CONDUCTIVITY To develop a new aluminum alloy using carbon nanotubes that has thermal conductivity 4-5 times greater than aluminum metal. To develop and engineer a process to manufacture thin foils of aluminum alloys having superior thermo-conductivity. Applications include any microelectronic device that generates heat, including circuit boards for computers and high powered radar. These alloys can also improve the strength of the aluminum without adding weight. Link to PR |
| An Intel proposal using CNTs to improve the thermal transport of heat Bundles of aligned nanotubes receive injected polymeric material to produce a polymeric/carbon composite which is then placed between the electronic device and a heat sink or other cooling solution. Link to USP application 20030117770 June 26, 2003 |
| BACKGROUND ON ALUMINUM-CARBON NANOTUBE COMPOSITES Big Benefits from Tiny Technology Carbon nanotubes are another favoured nano material. These filaments of carbon are several nanometres in diameter, with lengths reaching into the micrometre range. Discovered in 1991, their conductive properties make them extremely useful, as they can be used as "on-off" gates, a basic element in computer systems. They are also ten times stronger than steel, and Drew has collaborated with Raynald Gauvin, also in Mining, Metals and Materials Engineering, to explore their applications in magnesium and aluminum alloys for use in everything from automobile bumpers to airplane fuselages. So far, though, many of the challenges are very basic. "One problem is to make nanotubes at a competitive price," says Gauvin. The current fabrication process involves plenty of waste carbon with a 0.2% nanotube output, a ratio Gauvin would like to see increased tenfold. "Then, we have to remove the nanotubes from the rest of the carbon and clean them of residue." Once extracted and spruced up, the nanotubes must be integrated into a metal to strengthen it - also no easy task. Still, if Drew and Gauvin are successful, their research could have profound consequences for industry in Quebec, which produces one-tenth of the world's aluminum, but ships most of it elsewhere for processing. "We have a strong aerospace industry in Montreal, and Bombardier airplanes are mostly aluminum," says Gauvin. "The economy will benefit if we could develop an industry fabricating aluminum with carbon nanotubes here." [snip] Link to article [snip] But not all nano research focuses on tiny things alone. "Bulk nanomaterials" is how Robin Drew, Chair of Mining, Metals and Materials Engineering, describes one of his areas of research. "If you have better control at a nano-structural level, you can have more control over a structure's properties," he says. Much traditional metallurgy and materials science has involved working in the nano range, but without the trendy moniker. Heat treatment to strengthen aluminum alloys was discovered at the turn of the last century, but for years people didn't understand the phenomenon, although they knew it worked. "The science behind it started in the 1950s and '60s," explains Drew, "but even then the processes involved manipulating atoms and then hoping that nature would produce what was wanted." Those days of trial and error may soon be numbered, as atomic probe technologies allow researchers to actually see atoms, map their configuration and dispersal, and understand what they are doing. "This way, when we make changes to the process, we can analyze their consequences. Then we can correlate this information with the atomic properties we've observed and manipulate atoms to control properties - such as the strength of alloys." [snip] Link to article So on the basis of these views I maintain an aluminum-CNT alloy is possible if not already accomplished (I just haven't found it, perhaps). I think the ANI/SIIT project to fashion thin foils of aluminum alloys containing CNTs (somehow) is a project worth undertaking and far from the scam/pump/shallow purpose pursuit some have suggested. I found this reference to an aluminum+carbon nanotube composite: Processing of carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum composite T. Kuzumaki, K. Miyazawa, H. Ichinose, K. Ito (The University of Tokyo) Carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum (Al) composites were produced by hot-press and hot-extrusion methods. The interfacial structure between the carbon nanotube and Al was examined using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and the mechanical properties were measured by a tensile test. TEM observations have shown that the nanotubes in the composites are not damaged during the composite preparation and that no reaction products at the nanotube/Al interface are visible after annealing for 24 h at 983 K. The strength of the composites is only slightly affected by the annealing time at 873 K, while that of the pure Al produced in a similar powder metallurgy process significantly decreases with time. These studies are considered to yield experimental information valuable for producing high performance composites. Order No.: JA809-013 � 1998 MRS Link to article |
| ASI(Applied Sciences Inc.), GSI(GSI Creos Corporation), NGM(Nanographite Materials) Nanalyze Messages on Aluminum Alloys and Thermo-Conductivity Link |