Tape-casting apparatuses for preparing carbon nanostructure sheets and carbon nanostructure sheets prepared by the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11242249-B2
Application number	US-201816615851-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 5, 2018
Priority date	Jun 7, 2017
Publication date	Feb 8, 2022
Grant date	Feb 8, 2022

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for preparing carbon nanostructure sheets are provided. The apparatuses may include a casting body including a substrate configured to move along a first direction, a slurry reservoir configured to contain a slurry, a dispenser connected to the slurry reservoir and configured to dispense the slurry onto a surface of the substrate and a doctoring member that extends in a second direction traversing the first direction and that is positioned above the surface of the substrate. The slurry may include carbon nanostructures, and/or one or more functional materials. The doctoring member may be spaced apart from the surface of the substrate by a predetermined distance.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. An apparatus for preparing carbon nanostructure sheets, the apparatus comprising:
a casting body including a substrate, the substrate being configured to move along a first direction, wherein the first direction is a longitudinal direction of the substrate, and wherein the substrate includes a surface that is patterned or textured;
a slurry reservoir configured to contain a slurry, the slurry including carbon nanostructures;
a dispenser connected to the slurry reservoir and configured to dispense the slurry onto the surface of the substrate; and
a doctoring member that extends in a second direction traversing the first direction and that is positioned above the surface of the substrate, the doctoring member being spaced apart from the surface of the substrate by a distance greater than about 0.01 mm.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the substrate comprises a material having high surface energy that is greater than 300 mNm −1 .

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate has a beveled edge.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the substrate comprises a microscopic patterned surface.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the microscopic patterned surface includes micro-pyramids and/or micro-pillars.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the microscopic patterned surface includes micro-pyramids and the micro-pyramids have a height in a range of about 500 nm to 2,500 nm and a distance between adjacent micro-pyramids is in a range of between 1,000 nm and 3,000 nm.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the microscopic patterned surface includes micro-pillars and the micro-pillars have a height in a range of about 500 nm to 2,500 nm and a distance between adjacent micro-pillars is in a range of between 1,000 nm and 3,000 nm.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the surface has a root mean squared roughness value of about 150 nm to about 500 nm.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is configured to be heated to a temperature greater than room temperature.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus includes the press and the press is configured to apply a pressure to the carbon nanostructure s that is greater than or equal to 1 Pa for in a range of about 5 seconds to about 10 minutes.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus includes the drying/pressing device.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the substrate comprises a patterned surface that includes a slotted surface, a perforated surface, serpentine stripes, and/or quatrefoil shapes.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the slurry reservoir is connected to an external vacuum line and/or includes at least one degassing device and wherein the apparatus further includes one of a press or a drying/pressing device, wherein the press is configured to apply a pressure to the carbon nanostructure sheets and wherein the drying/pressing device is configured to apply heat and pressure to the carbon nanostructure sheets.

14. An apparatus for preparing carbon nanostructure sheets, the apparatus comprising:
a casting body including a substrate, the substrate being configured to move along a first direction, wherein the first direction is a longitudinal direction of the substrate;
a slurry reservoir configured to contain a slurry, the slurry including carbon nanostructures, wherein the slurry reservoir is connected to an external vacuum line and/or includes at least one degassing device;
a dispenser connected to the slurry reservoir and configured to dispense the slurry onto a surface of the substrate; and
a doctoring member that extends in a second direction traversing the first direction and that is positioned above the surface of the substrate, the doctoring member being spaced apart from the surface of the substrate by a distance greater than about 0.01 mm.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the slurry reservoir includes one or more mixing devices or homogenizers.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 ,
wherein the slurry reservoir, the mixing devices, and/or the homogenizers are configured to perform degassing of the slurry at a temperature greater than or equal to room temperature under a pressure of less than 0.01 mbar for about 1 second to about 1 minute.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the mixing devices, the homogenizers and the degassing device are configured to operate simultaneously or sequentially.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the dispenser is a spray dispenser.

19. An apparatus for preparing carbon nanostructure sheets, the apparatus comprising:
a casting body including a substrate, the substrate being configured to move along a first direction, wherein the first direction is a longitudinal direction of the substrate;
a slurry reservoir configured to contain a slurry, the slurry including carbon nanostructures;
a dispenser connected to the slurry reservoir and configured to dispense the slurry onto a surface of the substrate;
a doctoring member that extends in a second direction traversing the first direction and that is positioned above the surface of the substrate, the doctoring member being spaced apart from the surface of the substrate by a distance greater than about 0.01 mm; and
one of a press or a drying/pressing device, wherein the press is configured to apply a pressure to the carbon nanostructure sheets and wherein the drying/pressing device is configured to apply heat and pressure to the carbon nanostructure sheets.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising a dryer that includes a heating element and is configured to operate at a temperature greater than or equal to room temperature under a pressure greater than or equal to 1 atm or under a pressure of less than 0.01 mbar for about 5 seconds to about 10 minutes.

Assignees

• Univ Khalifa Science & Technology

Inventors

• Susantyoko Rahmat Agung
• Karam Zainab
• Almheiri Saif
• Mustafa Ibrahim Husein Salim

Classifications

• B82Y30/00

  Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites · CPC title

• B82Y40/00

  Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures · CPC title

• B29C41/16

  Slip casting, i.e. applying a slip or slurry on a perforated or porous or absorbent surface with the liquid being drained away · CPC title

• B29C41/12

  Spreading-out the material on a substrate {, e.g. on the surface of a liquid} · CPC title

• B29C41/42

  Removing articles from moulds, cores or other substrates {(B29C33/444 and B29C37/0017 take precedence)} · CPC title