Project Objectives. In this project, we propose to investigate the possibility of producing low-cost carbon fiber using the heavy fraction of bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of biomass. This provides a cost effective raw-material source for carbon fiber production. If successful, the outcome of the proposed research will provide valuable insights in producing low-cost carbon fiber from renewable re...

In this study, discrepancies between the free vibration of fiber-metal laminate (FML) and composite cylindrical shells reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based on Love’s first approximation shell theory have been considered by beam modal function model. The representative volume elements consist of three and four phases for composite and FML structures, respectively, which include fiber, CNT...

Nano-plasticity of thin single-wall carbon nanotubes under uniaxial compression is investigated through generalized tight-binding molecular dynamics (GTBMD) and ab-initio electronic structure methods. A novel mechanism of nano-plasticity of carbon nanotubes under uniaxial compression is observed in which bonding geometry collapses from a graphitic (sp 2) to a localized diamond like (sp 3) recon...

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are increasingly employed in nanomedicine as carriers for intracellular transport of drugs, imaging probes, and therapeutics agents, thanks to their unique optical and physicochemical properties. However, a better understanding about the effects of CNMs on a vertebrate model at the whole animal level is required. In this study, we compare the toxicity of oxidized car...

We describe the nanofabrication study of self-aligned electrodes on suspended multiwalled carbon nanotube structures. When metal is deposited on a suspended multiwalled carbon nanotube structure, the nanotube acts as an evaporation mask, resulting in the formation of discontinuous electrodes. The metal deposits on the nanotubes are removed with lift-off. Using Al sacrificial layers, it was poss...

Carbon fiber composites have become popular in aerospace applications because of their lightweight yet strong material properties. The injection molding process can be used to produce discontinuous fiber composites using less time and resources than traditional methods, thereby broadening carbon fiber composites’ applications in different industries. Utilization of longer fibers offers more loa...

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNFETs) have demonstrated extraordinary properties and are widely expected to be the building blocks of next generation VLSI circuits. This chapter presents (1) the first purely CNT and CNFET based nanoarchitecture, (2) an adaptive configuration methodology for nanoelectronic design based on the CNT nano-architecture, and (3)...

We constructed an atomic structure model for a PANbased carbon fiber containing amorphous structures using molecular dynamics methods. It was found that basic physical properties such as crystallinity, Young’s modulus, and thermal conductivity of our model were nearly identical to those of real carbon fibers. We then obtained the tensile strength of a carbon fiber, which has no macro defects. W...

Owning to their unparalleled sensitivity resolution, nanomechanical resonators have excellent capabilities in design of nano-sensors for gas detection. The current challenge is to develop newdesigns of the resonators for differentiating distinct gas atoms with a recognizably high sensitivity. In this work, the characteristics of impulse wave propagation in carbon nanotube-based sensors are inve...