Irradiated SWNT membrane

In comparison, electron beam irradiation was also utilized to crosslink isolated CNTs or their ropes of thin SWNT films in order to transform them into high-strength and multifunctional fabrics. It also provides a practical means to mass production of strong CNT membrane materials. Usually, SWNT membranes can be irradiated with electron accelerators. Figure 14.16 shows the effects of... 

Figure 14.17(a) indicated that there also existed a critical irradiation dose level for Young s modulus, above which substantial property improvement in Young s modulus was observed. Young s modulus of the SWNT membrane was not substantially... 

Figure 14.17. Young s modulus and tensile strength of SWNT membrane as a function of irradiation dose.

The CNTs, both single-walled nanotubes (SWNT) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNT) prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and arc-discharge (AD) methods, respectively, were purchased from Iljin Nanotech, Co., Korea. For proton and electron irradiation experiments, CNTs sheets were prepared as shown in Figure 2 by filtration of the CNT solution mixed in dimethylformamide through a cellulose membrane (pore size 0.45 pm). The thickness of the CNT sheets was approximately 0.5 mm, and they were 47 mm in diameter. After drying in a vacuum oven at 80 °C for 24 hours, CNT sheets (Figure 2) were obtained. These sheets were used in the radiation experiments, and were used for analysis such as SEM, Raman spectroscopy and XPS without any further treatment. For a dispersion test, a CNT powder was used instead of the CNT sheets. 

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