Metal and Ceramic Nanofibers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021283084-A1
Application number	US-202117330760-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 26, 2021
Priority date	Aug 30, 2011
Publication date	Sep 16, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided herein are nanofibers and processes of preparing nanofibers. In some instances, the nanofibers are metal and/or ceramic nanofibers. In some embodiments, the nanofibers are high quality, high performance nanofibers, highly coherent nanofibers, highly continuous nanofibers, or the like. In some embodiments, the nanofibers have increased coherence, increased length, few voids and/or defects, and/or other advantageous characteristics. In some instances, the nanofibers are produced by electrospinning a fluid stock having a high loading of nanofiber precursor in the fluid stock. In some instances, the fluid stock comprises well mixed and/or uniformly distributed precursor in the fluid stock. In some instances, the fluid stock is converted into a nanofiber comprising few voids, few defects, long or tunable length, and the like.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A nanofiber comprising:
a metal containing material selected from one or more metal containing precursors, metal, metal alloy, metal oxide, metal-non-metal alloy, ceramic, or any combination thereof, wherein the one or more metal containing materials come from the one or more metal containing precursors comprising one or more electrophilic moieties or one or more nucleophilic moieties; and a non-metal material selected from a polymer, a carbonaceous material, or any combination thereof, wherein the non-metal material comes from a polymer comprising a plurality of nucleophilic moieties or a plurality of electrophilic moieties, wherein the one or more metal containing precursors are configured to react with the polymer through a non-sol-gel reaction between the nucleophilic moieties and the electrophilic moieties.

2 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the one or more polymers comprises partially or completely ionized forms.

3 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the non-metal material is a residual carbonaceous material produced by calcination of the one or more polymers, wherein the carbon is less than 10% by mass of the nanofiber.

4 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber has a void fraction or porosity of more than 10%.

5 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber has a void fraction or porosity of more than 30%.

6 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein a weight to weight ratio of the metal containing precursors to the polymer is at least 3:1.

7 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber is a hollow nanofiber or a hybrid nanofiber selected from a co-axial nanofiber, a multi-axial nanofiber, or a layered nanofiber comprising more than one material.

8 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber consists essentially of metal or ceramic material(s); and a residual amount of polymer, carbonaceous material, oxygen or any combination thereof.

9 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber is a layered hybrid nanofiber formed via coaxial electrospinning comprising a core layer, and a sheath layer at least partially surrounding the core layer.

10 . The nanofiber of claim 9 , wherein the core layer comprises a first metal, metal oxide, or ceramic, and the sheath layer comprises a second metal, metal oxide or ceramic.

11 . The nanofiber of claim 9 , wherein the core layer comprises a mineral oil or air, and wherein the mineral oil is configured to be removable to leave a hollow nanofiber.

12 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber comprises at least 33% (w/w) on average of a metal, a metal oxide, a ceramic, or a combination thereof.

13 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber has an average specific surface area of at least 10 m2/g, calculated based on a single nanofiber.

14 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber has an average specific surface area of at least 300 m2/g, calculated based on a collection of nanofibers.

15 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber comprise a continuous matrix of a metal, a metal oxide, ceramic, or a combination thereof, wherein the continuous matrix running along at least 80% on average of the length of the nanofiber and wherein the nanofiber has an average length of at least about 1000 μm.

16 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber comprises a continuous matrix of a metal having an electrical conductivity of at least 80% the level with an identical bulk material of the metal.

17 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber comprises a first material makes up a continuous matrix and a second material makes up a plurality of discrete, isolated domains of the nanofiber.

18 . The nanofiber of claim 17 , wherein the continuous matrix comprises a ceramic or metal oxide and the discrete isolated domains comprise a metal.

19 . A process for producing the nanofiber of claim 1 , comprising:
providing a fluid stock comprising: 1) one or more metal containing precursors comprising one or more electrophilic moieties; and a non-metal material comprising a polymer comprising a plurality of nucleophilic moieties; or 2) one or more metal containing precursors comprising one or more nucleophilic moieties; and a non-metal material comprising a polymer comprising a plurality of electrophilic moieties; mixing the one or more metal containing precursors with the polymer such that the metal containing precursors react with the polymer through a non-sol-gel reaction between the nucleophilic moieties and the electrophilic moieties; electrospinning the fluid stock to form the nanofiber.

20 . The process of claim 19 , further comprising one or more processes for treating the nanofiber, wherein the processes are selected from heating, calcination, solubilizing the polymer, chemically degrading the polymer or any combination thereof.

Assignees

• Univ Cornell

Inventors

• Joo Yong Lak
• Hansen Nathaniel S
• Cho Daehwan

Classifications

• B22F1/0547 Primary

  Nanofibres or nanotubes · CPC title

• B22F1/07

  Metallic powder characterised by particles having a nanoscale microstructure (nanosized particles B22F1/054) · CPC title

• C04B35/62236

  Fibres based on aluminium oxide · CPC title

• D01D5/003

  the material being a polymer solution or dispersion (D01D5/0053 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C04B35/6224

  Fibres based on silica · CPC title