unist UNIST News Center UNIST News Center
KOREAN ENGLISH
  • HOME
  • Contents
    • All News
    • News
    • People
    • Community Contribution
    • Research
    • New Study Unveils New Solid Electrolyte with Cheap Eco-Friendly Materials 4 days ago
    • Successful Completion of 2023 UNIST AI Technology Open Workshop! 5 days ago
    • Successful Completion of 2023 Smart Maritime Logistics Unicon Contest! 5 days ago
    View all
    • Successful Completion of 2023 UNIST AI Technology Open Workshop! 5 days ago
    • Successful Completion of 2023 Smart Maritime Logistics Unicon Contest! 5 days ago
    • Ulsan Emerges as a Thriving Venture Hub: Highlights from the ‘UNIST X ATP Unicorn Shooting Day’! 1 week ago
    View all
    • Professor Jimin Kwon Selected for Prestigious National Semiconductor Lab Project 2 weeks ago
    • UNIST Student Wins Grand Prize at the 5th Future Finance A.I. Challenge 2 weeks ago
    • UNIST Recognized for Design Excellence at IDEA 2023! 2 weeks ago
    View all
    • Flower Beds at UNIST Given A New Lease of Life! 2 years ago
    • UNIST Promotes Research Cooperation for Rehabilitation of People with Speical Needs 3 years ago
    • UNIST Science Camps Conclude Another Successful Year! 4 years ago
    View all
    • New Study Unveils New Solid Electrolyte with Cheap Eco-Friendly Materials 4 days ago
    • Selective Removal of Aging Cells Opens New Possibilities for Treating Age-Related Diseases 2 weeks ago
    • Trajectoid: A Shape that Rolls Along the Desired Path 3 weeks ago
    View all
  • For Journalists
    • For Journalists
    • UNIST at a Glance
  • About News Center
    • About News Center
    • News & Communications Team
Menu
  • HOME
  • Contents
    • All News
    • News
    • People
    • Community Contribution
    • Research
    • New Study Unveils New Solid Electrolyte with Cheap Eco-Friendly Materials 4 days ago
    • Successful Completion of 2023 UNIST AI Technology Open Workshop! 5 days ago
    • Successful Completion of 2023 Smart Maritime Logistics Unicon Contest! 5 days ago
    View all
    • Successful Completion of 2023 UNIST AI Technology Open Workshop! 5 days ago
    • Successful Completion of 2023 Smart Maritime Logistics Unicon Contest! 5 days ago
    • Ulsan Emerges as a Thriving Venture Hub: Highlights from the ‘UNIST X ATP Unicorn Shooting Day’! 1 week ago
    View all
    • Professor Jimin Kwon Selected for Prestigious National Semiconductor Lab Project 2 weeks ago
    • UNIST Student Wins Grand Prize at the 5th Future Finance A.I. Challenge 2 weeks ago
    • UNIST Recognized for Design Excellence at IDEA 2023! 2 weeks ago
    View all
    • Flower Beds at UNIST Given A New Lease of Life! 2 years ago
    • UNIST Promotes Research Cooperation for Rehabilitation of People with Speical Needs 3 years ago
    • UNIST Science Camps Conclude Another Successful Year! 4 years ago
    View all
    • New Study Unveils New Solid Electrolyte with Cheap Eco-Friendly Materials 4 days ago
    • Selective Removal of Aging Cells Opens New Possibilities for Treating Age-Related Diseases 2 weeks ago
    • Trajectoid: A Shape that Rolls Along the Desired Path 3 weeks ago
    View all
  • For Journalists
    • For Journalists
    • UNIST at a Glance
  • About News Center
    • About News Center
    • News & Communications Team
Home All News Research Understanding Why Carbon Nanotubes Grow
Understanding Why Carbon Nanotubes Grow

Understanding Why Carbon Nanotubes Grow

The work by Distinguished Professor Feng Ding at UNIST has been published in the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

Apr 11, 2022IBS Communications Team IBS
print

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), one-dimensional hollow cylinders of carbon far smaller than the human eye can see, have attracted worldwide scientific attention and extensive research efforts since their discovery three decades ago. Their remarkable properties are highly desirable for application in next-generation electronics. However, the most fundamental question regarding CNTs, why do CNTs grow, has never been answered since its discovery in 1991.

Experimentally, it is well established that a CNT is formed on a nanometer-sized catalyst surface. Firstly, carbon atoms aggregate into a graphitic cap and adhere to the catalyst particle. Then, at a certain stage, the graphitic cap suddenly lifts off from the catalyst particle and grows into a CNT (Route II in Figure 1). Instead of lifting off to form a CNT, the continuous growth of the graphitic cap adhered to the catalyst particle until full encapsulation (Route I in Figure 1) seems more natural. So, why does a graphitic cap lift off to initiate the growth of a CNT? Without understanding this critical question, the controlled growth of CNTs cannot be realized.

Image 1
Figure 1. Two possible routes considered for the evolution of a graphitic cap structure on the catalyst nanoparticle surface: (I) catalyst encapsulation and (II) graphitic cap lift off and CNT growth.

Recently, Distinguished Professor Feng Ding, and his colleagues from the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) at UNIST, in cooperation with researchers at the Shanxi University of Science & Technology, Jiangsu University, and the University of Newcastle, have developed and validated a theoretical model to solve this three-decade-old mystery of why CNTs grow. Using state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) calculations, they demonstrate that the contact angle a carbon cap makes with the catalyst surface significantly influences the stability of the carbon-catalyst interface. As the contact angle approaches 90°, it becomes increasingly energetically favorable for a graphitic cap to lift off the surface to form a CNT rather than remain adhered to it, as the interface energy difference between an adhered graphitic cap and a lifted cap increases, overcoming the adhesion between the carbon and the catalyst.

The theoretical model proposed in this work explains why CNTs grow and can predict whether growth is favorable or not for any catalyst surface based on the strength of adhesion between carbon and the catalyst and the contact angle-dependent interface energy. Figure 2 demonstrates this key relationship, providing a fundamental understanding of why CNTs grow for the first time and can be used to effectively design catalysts for selective CNT growth.

Image 3
Figure 2. The key criteria for CNT growth over catalyst encapsulation; a sufficient interface energy difference to overcome the adhesion between the carbon and the catalyst.

The authors validate their theory with extensive DFT calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, that demonstrate excellent agreement. This important work reveals a historically overlooked yet fundamental aspect of CNT growth that has puzzled the materials science community for three decades. This work has been led by Distinguished Professor Feng Ding and co-first authored by Dr. Li Ping Ding, Dr. Ben McLean, and Dr. Ziwei Xu. It has been published in the March 2022 issue of the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

Journal Reference
Li Ping Ding, Ben McLean, Ziwei Xu, et al., “Why Carbon Nanotubes Grow,” JACS, (2022).

Tags: Carbon nanotubesCatalystsCNTEncapsulationEnergyENGIBS CMCMInterfacesJACSJournal of the American Chemical Society
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
  • Previous

    UNIST Professor Selected for 2022 Samsung Future Tech Fostering Project!

  • Next

    UNIST Signs Cooperation MoU with Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

author photo

Writer|IBS Communications Team |IBS

042-878-8114
[email protected]

Related Articles

  • New Study Unveils New Solid Electrolyte with Cheap Eco-Friendly Materials

    New Study Unveils New Solid Electrolyte with Cheap Eco-Friendly Materials

    Sep 26, 2023
  • Selective Removal of Aging Cells Opens New Possibilities for Treating Age-Related Diseases

    Selective Removal of Aging Cells Opens New Possibilities for Treating Age-Related Diseases

    Sep 14, 2023
  • Trajectoid: A Shape that Rolls Along the Desired Path

    Trajectoid: A Shape that Rolls Along the Desired Path

    Sep 12, 2023
  • New Study Uncovers Potential Treatment for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

    New Study Uncovers Potential Treatment for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

    Sep 06, 2023

Global News

  • Researchers Present an Outline to Identify New Functional Porous Materials
  • [AZoM] Mar.,11, 2022

  • Researchers develop efficient solar cell technology by mimicking plants' photosynthesis process
  • [AJU Business Daily] Feb.,28, 2022

  • Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Technique Developed by IBS and UNIST
  • [Business Korea] Feb.,24, 2022

Popular

  • Selective Removal of Aging Cells Opens New Possibilities for Treating Age-Related Diseases

    Selective Removal of Aging Cells Opens New Pos..

    Sep 14, 2023
  • ‘Reading Mate Robot’ Takes 1st Place in the IEEE RO-MAN 2023 Design Competition!

    ‘Reading Mate Robot’ Takes 1st Pla..

    Sep 13, 2023
  • Trajectoid: A Shape that Rolls Along the Desired Path

    Trajectoid: A Shape that Rolls Along the Desir..

    Sep 12, 2023

UNIST E-Newsletters

Sign up today to receive a copy of the UNIST e-newsletter

<Personal Information Processing Consent Form>
UNIST wishes to obtain consent from Newsletter subscribers to the collection and processing of their personal information. Please read this document in its entirety before giving consent (select each blank as appropriate).

1. Items to be collected : e-mail address
2. Purposes of collection and use : to provide Newsletter service
3. Period of holding and use : until your cancelation
4. You have the right to refuse consent. However, you may not be provided with the aforementioned services due to rejection.
I give my consent for all personal information to be processed for the purposes described in this document and understand that I can withdraw my consent at any time.
  • UNIST Daily
  • UNIST Newsletter
  • For Journalists
logo
50 UNIST-gil, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
Phone : +82 52 217 0114 /Admissions : +82 52 217 1120
  • Contents
    • News
    • People
    • Research
    • Photo & Video
  • For Journalists
    • UNIST at a Glance
  • About News Center
    • About News Center
    • UNIST Newsletter
    • Send Your Story Ideas
    • News & Communications Team