Group iv nanowires grown from inductively or resistively heated substrates

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016237591-A1
Application number	US-201415027566-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 13, 2014
Priority date	Oct 11, 2013
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Growth of Group IV nanowires with a substrate and a Group IV metalloid is performed using resistive or inductive heating of the substrate. A roll-to-roll process enables a metal surface to move through a reaction environment while reacting with a stream or bath of precursor to form the nanowire-metal complex. The Group IV nanowires on a surface of the substrate can have a surface loading greater than 10 mg/cm 2 .

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
exposing a flexible substrate to a Group IV precursor during a roll-to-roll process; and heating the substrate during the exposing such that a plurality of Group IV nanowires grow on a surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate is resistively heated by passing a current through the substrate or inductively heated by inducing a current in the substrate.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein growth of the Group IV nanowires is carried out such that a pattern of the Group IV nanowires on less than an entirety of the surface of the substrate is produced.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is at a temperature from 200° C. to 800° C. during the heating.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising functionalizing the Group IV nanowires.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying a metal coating to the Group IV nanowires.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising resistively heating or inductively heating the substrate after the exposing thereby drying the substrate.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing secondary convective heating around the substrate during the exposing.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the exposing occurs at substantially atmospheric pressure.

9 . An article comprising:
a flexible substrate; and a plurality of Group IV nanowires disposed on a surface of the substrate, wherein the Group IV nanowires on the surface have a surface loading greater than 10 mg/cm 2 .

10 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the Group IV nanowires are composed of Si, Ge, or a combination thereof.

11 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the Group IV nanowires are arranged in a pattern on less than an entirety of the surface.

12 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the Group IV nanowires are between 5 nm and 100 nm in a first dimension and are greater than 100 μm in a second dimension perpendicular to the first dimension.

13 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the substrate comprises a metal, a ceramic, a polymer, a fiber, or a composite.

14 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the substrate comprises a sheet, a foil, or a wire.

15 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the surface of the substrate is a metal selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ni, Cr, Mn, Ti, Fe, Co, Pd, and Pt.

16 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the Group IV nanowires are functionalized.

17 . The article of claim 9 , further comprising a metal coating applied to the Group IV nanowires.

18 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the substrate comprises a growth layer disposed on a heating layer, wherein the growth layer comprises copper and wherein the heating layer comprises one of Nichrome or magnetic stainless steel.

19 . The article of claim 9 , further comprising a metal layer disposed on the plurality of Group IV nanowires and a second plurality of Group IV nanowires disposed on the metal layer.

20 . An apparatus comprising:
a reactor chamber configured for roll-to-roll processing of a flexible substrate; a Group IV precursor supply connected to the reactor chamber; and a heating system configured to resistively heat by passing a current through the substrate or inductively heat by inducing a current in the substrate.

Assignees

• Univ Cornell

Inventors

• Hanrath Tobias
• Richards Benjamin T

Classifications

• B22F1/18

  Non-metallic particles coated with metal · CPC title

• B22F1/0547

  Nanofibres or nanotubes · CPC title

• C23C14/16 Primary

  on metallic substrates or on substrates of boron or silicon · CPC title

• C23C18/1204

  inorganic material, e.g. non-oxide and non-metallic such as sulfides, nitrides based compounds · CPC title

• C30B29/08

  Germanium · CPC title