METHOD OF FORMING CARBON NANOTUBE OR GRAPHENE-BASED AEROGELS

• Main Authors: ZOU JIANHUA, ZHAI LEI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 18.06.2015
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F,C08G; CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOIDCHEMISTRY; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVINGCARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS; METALLURGY; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING-UP

A method of forming aerogels includes mixing a plurality of polymers or aromatic molecules, a solvent, and a plurality of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or graphene including structures to form a mixture, where the polymers or aromatic molecules have at least one crosslinkable structure. A solid gel is formed including a plurality of supramolecular structures from the mixture. The plurality of supramolecular structures include a plurality of the polymers or aromatic molecules secured by - bonds to the outer surface of the CNTs or graphene including structures. The solid gel includes a portion of the solvent trapped therein. The plurality of supramolecular structures are crosslinked and then dried to remove the solvent trapped therein to form the aerogel.