Resistive materials comprising mixed nanoscopic particles and carbon nanotubes
View Patent ↗An improved switching material for forming a composite article over a substrate is disclosed. A first volume of nanotubes is combined with a second volume of nanoscopic particles in a predefined ration relative to the first volume of nanotubes to form a mixture. This mixture can then be deposited over a substrate as a relatively thick composite article via a spin coating process. The composite article may possess improved switching properties over that of a nanotube-only switching article. A method for forming substantially uniform nanoscopic particles of carbon, which contains one or more allotropes of carbon, is also disclosed.
1. A resistive material comprising:
a first volume of nanotubes; and
a second volume of nanoscopic particles in a predefined ratio relative to said first volume of nanotubes;
wherein said nanoscopic particles are silicon based particles.
2. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said resistive material is a nanofabric.
3. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said resistive material is a film.
4. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said nanotubes comprising said first volume are substantially all carbon nanotubes.
5. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said nanoscopic particles comprise carbon particles of substantially uniform diameter.
6. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said second volume of nanoscopic particles includes nanoscopic particles containing at least one allotrope of carbon.
7. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said second volume of nanoscopic particles includes multi-walled nanotubes.
8. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein substantially all of said nanoscopic particles within said second volume fall within a predetermined volume tolerance.
9. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein at least one of the magnitude of said first volume of nanotubes and the magnitude of said second volume of nanoscopic particles is selected to realize a desired volume density of nanotubes within said resistive material.
10. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said first volume of nanotubes form a matrix phase and said second volume of nanoscopic particles form a discrete phase.
11. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said second volume of nanoscopic particles form a matrix phase and said first volume of nanotubes form a discrete phase.
12. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said first volume of nanotubes and said second volume of nanoscopic particles form interconnected matrix phases.
13. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said resistive material has less than about 10 11 metal atoms/cm 2 .
14. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said resistive material is a homogeneous mixture of said first volume of nanotubes and said second volume of nanoscopic particles.
15. The resistive material of claim 1 wherein said resistive material is a heterogeneous mixture of said first volume of nanotubes and said second volume of nanoscopic particles.