Formation of three-dimensional materials by combining catalytic and precursor materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018346337-A1
Application number	US-201615779152-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 25, 2016
Priority date	Nov 25, 2015
Publication date	Dec 6, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of making three-dimensional materials by combining a catalytic material with a precursor material and forming the three-dimensional material from the precursor material in the presence of the catalytic material. The three-dimensional material may be formed on surfaces and internal cavities of the catalytic material. The formed three-dimensional material includes a plurality of connected units that are derived from the precursor materials. The methods of the present disclosure may also include steps of separating catalytic materials from the formed three-dimensional materials and incorporating the three-dimensional materials as a component of an energy storage device (e.g., as an electrode in a capacitor). Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to the formed three-dimensional materials.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of making a three-dimensional material, said method comprising:
combining a catalytic material with a precursor material; forming the three-dimensional material from the precursor material in the presence of the catalytic material,
wherein the three-dimensional material is formed on surfaces and internal cavities of the catalytic material, and
wherein the three-dimensional material comprises a plurality of connected units.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining occurs by a method selected from the group consisting of mixing, stirring, grinding, pressing, cold-pressing, die casting, molding, heating, spin coating, sonication, dispersion, drop-casting, spray coating, dip coating, physical application, vapor-coating, sublimation, blading, inkjet printing, screen printing, direct placement, dissolution, filtration, thermal evaporation, hydrothermal treatment, and combinations thereof.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining comprises a first step of mixing the catalytic material with the precursor material, and a second step of pressing the mixed catalytic material and precursor material.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalytic material is selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, Pt, Au, Al, Ag, Cr, Mg, Mn, Mo, Rh, Ru, Si, Ta, Ti, W, U, V, Zr, powders thereof, foils thereof, vapor deposited metals thereof, reduced forms thereof, oxidized forms thereof, associated alloys thereof, and combinations thereof.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalytic material is in the shape of particles.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material is selected from the group consisting of carbon sources, non-carbon sources, metal sources, chalcogenide sources, metal chalcogenide sources, boron containing compounds, nitrogen containing compounds, carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoribbons, boron nitride nanotubes, chalcogenide nanotubes, metal chalcogenide nanotubes, nanoparticles, nanorods, nanowires, carbon onions, solid precursor materials, liquid precursor materials, gaseous precursor materials, and combinations thereof.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material comprises a carbon source.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the carbon source is selected from the group consisting of alkanes, alkenes, alkylenes, alkynes, polymers, non-polymeric carbon sources, raw carbon sources, small molecules, organic compounds, carbohydrates, sugars, polysaccharides, carbon oxides, carbon nitrides, carbon sulfides, lignin, asphalt, crude oil, bitumen, coke, coal, carbon nanotubes, graphene nanoribbons, graphene quantum dots, surfactants, and combinations thereof.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material comprises carbon nanotubes.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the carbon nanotubes are selected from the group consisting of functionalized carbon nanotubes, polymer wrapped carbon nanotubes, surfactant wrapped carbon nanotubes, metallic carbon nanotubes, semi-metallic carbon nanotubes, single-walled carbon nanotubes, double-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, ultra-short carbon nanotubes, and combinations thereof.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material comprises a metal source.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the metal source comprises metals selected from the group consisting of Mo, W, Bi, Hf, Ga, Ge, Ta, Sn, Zn, Cd, Pb, B, Nb, Zr, Si, hydrides thereof, oxides thereof, chalcogenides thereof, and combinations thereof.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the metal source comprises metal hydrides.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor material is functionalized with a plurality of functional groups.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the functional groups are selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups, alcohol groups, carboxyl groups, carbonyl groups, alkoxy groups, aryl groups, aryl sulfonyl groups, polymers, sulfur groups, organic compounds, surfactants, graphene quantum dots, carbon quantum dots, inorganic quantum dots, nanoparticles, and combinations thereof.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the formation of the three-dimensional material from the precursor material comprises connecting the precursor materials to one another.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the formation of the three-dimensional material from the precursor material comprises growing the three-dimensional material from the precursor material.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the formation of the three-dimensional material from the precursor material occurs by a method selected from the group consisting of chemical vapor deposition, heating, annealing, and combinations thereof.

19 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of separating the catalytic material from the three-dimensional material.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the separating occurs by a method selected from the group consisting of etching, dissolution, extraction, physical separation, catalytic material oxidation, washing, and combinations thereof.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of connected units of the three-dimensional material are selected from the group consisting of graphene, carbon shells, phosphorenes, boron nitrides, metal layers, connected precursor materials, hybrid materials thereof, composites thereof, and combinations thereof.

22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of connected units of the three-dimensional material comprise graphene.

23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the graphene is selected from the group consisting of monolayer graphene, bilayer graphene, multilayer graphene, polycrystalline graphene, pristine graphene, single-crystal graphene, graphite, doped graphene, graphene oxide, functionalized graphene, and combinations thereof.

24 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of connected units of the three-dimensional material comprise metal layers.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the metal layers comprise MX n ,
wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Mo, W, Bi, Hf, Ga, Ge, Ta, Sn, Zn, Cd, Pb, B, Nb, Zr, Ti, W, Nb, Si and combinations thereof; wherein X is selected from O, C, S, N, Se, Te, and combinations thereof; and wherein n is 1, 2 or 3.

26 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of connected units of the three-dimensional material comprise hybrid materials.

27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the hybrid materials comprise graphene hybrid materials.

28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the graphene hybrid materials are selected from the group consisting of graphene-carbon nanotube hybrid materials, graphene-carbon onion hybrid materials, graphene-carbon shell hybrid materials, graphene-boron nitride hybrid materials, graphene-carbon nanotube-carbon shell hybrid materials, graphene-boron nitride nanotube-carbon shell hybrid materials, and combinations thereof.

29 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the graphene hybrid materials comprise graphene-carbon nanotube-carbon shell hybrid materials.

30 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of connected units of the three-dimensional material are associated with one another through covalent bonds.

31 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of connected units

Assignees

• Univ Rice William M
• Univ Tianjin

Inventors

• Tour James M
• Sha Junwei
• Zhao Naiqin

Classifications

• C25B11/043

  Carbon, e.g. diamond or graphene · CPC title

• B82Y30/00 Primary

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

• H01G11/36

  Nanostructures, e.g. nanofibres, nanotubes or fullerenes · CPC title

• H01M4/663

  containing carbon or carbonaceous materials as conductive part, e.g. graphite, carbon fibres · CPC title

• C25B11/12

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic