Compiling for Application-Specific Computational Acceleration in Reconfigurable Architectures

65201 Carbon nanotubes of uniform structure and properties are highly promising new materials for energy production, storage devices, and many other applications. However, a major impediment to the implementation of carbon nanotubes has been an inability to produce sufficiently pure and uniform tubes at low cost. A recently discovered laboratory-scale, arc synthesis process, involving the selective production of double-walled carbon nanotubes, enables almost-pure tubes to be obtained. This project will scale-up this process, based on a parametric study of tube formation in the arc. A catalytic chemical vapor deposition technique will be explored for the large-scale production of the double-walled carbon nanotubes. In Phase I, the mechanism of double-walled carbon nanotube formation in the arc will be studied and catalytic chemical vapor deposition will be used to determine production feasibility. Specialized experimental set-ups will be built and the process will be optimized for obtaining bulk amounts of tubes. Tube properties will be determined for several energy storage applications. Commercial Applications And Other Benefits as described by awardee: Low cost, double-walled carbon nanotubes could find application in field emission displays, lithium-ion batteries, hydrogen accumulators, and composite materials. The high purity of the tubes should greatly accelerate progress in understanding the tube properties and in verifying theoretical predictions of their superb performance.