System and process for producing nanowire composites and electronic substrates therefrom
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to a system and process for producing a nanowire-material composite. A substrate having nanowires attached to a portion of at least one surface is provided. A material is deposited over the portion to form the nanowire-material composite. The process further optionally includes separating the nanowire-material composite from the substrate to form a freestanding nanowire-material composite. The freestanding nanowire material composite is optionally further processed into an electronic substrate. A variety of electronic substrates can be produced using the methods described herein. For example, a multi-color light-emitting diode can be produced from multiple, stacked layers of nanowire-material composites, each composite layer emitting light at a different wavelength.
1. A process for producing a nanowire-material composite, comprising:
(a) contacting nanowires with a material to form a mixture; and
(b) blade coating or extruding said mixture on a substrate to form a nanowire-material composite such that said nanowires are aligned parallel to their long axis on said substrate.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein said substrate is a semiconductor, glass, ceramic, polymer, metal or composite thereof.
3. The process of claim 2 , wherein said substrate is one or both of the interior and exterior surfaces of a tube.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein said substrate is a reticulated macroporous metal, oxide or ceramic.
5. The process of claim 1 , wherein said material comprises a mixture of a polymer and solvent.
6. The process of claim 1 , said material is a neat polymer.
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein said material comprises a mixture of at least two or more epoxy prepolymers.
8. The process of claim 1 , wherein said material comprises a mixture of monomer and initiator.
9. The process of claim 1 , further comprising after (b):
hardening said composite.
10. The process of claim 9 , wherein said hardening comprises removing solvent from said composite or polymerizing said material.
11. The process of claim 1 , further comprising:
separating said nanowire-material composite from said substrate to form a freestanding nanowire-material composite.
12. The process of claim 1 , further comprising:
applying an electric field across said composite to align said nanowires.
13. The process of claim 12 , further comprising:
applying a dc field of about 10–3000 V/cm across said composite to align said nanowires perpendicular to the nanowire-material composite surface.
14. A process of producing a tubular nanowire-material composite comprising:
contacting nanowires with a material to form a mixture; and
extruding said mixture to form a tubular nanowire-material composite whereby said extruding orients the nanowires in the mixture.
15. The process of claim 14 , further comprising:
removing a portion of said material from one or both of the inner and outer surfaces of said tubular nanowire-material composite to expose a portion of said nanowires.