Granted Patent B2

US 11,072,531 · App. 15/853,432 · Granted Jul 27, 2021

Inventors: Gabriel Iftime (Dublin, CA); Beomseok Kim (Hayward, CA); Clinton Smith (San Francisco, CA); Eric Cocker (Redwood City, CA); Junhua Wei (Mountain View, CA); David Eric Schwartz (Concord, MA); Meyya Meyyappan (Pacifica, CA); Rahul Pandey (San Jose, CA); Yong Zhang (Milbrae, CA)

Assignees: PALO ALTO RESEARCH CENTER INCORPORATED; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE NASA; BAY SYSTEMS CONSULTING, INC.

C01B32/168C01B32/176G01N27/12G01N33/0036

Abstract

Claims (12)

1. A method comprising:

decorating carbon nanotubes with polymer coated metal nanoparticles by mixing a carbon nanotube dispersion with a polymer coated metal nanoparticle dispersion, wherein the polymer coating attaches the metal nanoparticles to the carbon nanotubes and reduces adsorption of water vapor by the metal nanoparticles; and

annealing the carbon nanotubes decorated with the polymer coated metal nanoparticles to decrease a quantity of hydrophilic components of the polymer coating.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal nanoparticles comprise a metal selected from a group comprising palladium, iridium, rhodium, platinum, copper, nickel, chromium, ruthenium, silver and gold.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the metal nanoparticles comprise an alloy of two or more of the metals selected from a group comprising palladium, iridium, rhodium, platinum, copper, nickel, chromium, ruthenium, silver and gold.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the metal nanoparticles are produced by using a mixture of two or more salts of two or more metal ion salts, wherein ions in the two or more metal ion salts are in a group comprising palladium, iridium, rhodium, platinum, copper, nickel, chromium, ruthenium, silver and gold ions.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the carbon nanotubes contain, in weight, up to 5% oxygenated functional groups.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanotubes comprise single-walled carbon nanotubes.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a polymer layer of the polymer coated metal nanoparticles comprises polyvinylpyrrolidone, and wherein the metal nanoparticles comprise palladium or platinum.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the annealed carbon nanotubes decorated with the polymer coated metal nanoparticles are hydrophobic.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein annealing the carbon nanotubes decorated with the polymer coated metal nanoparticles is performed at above 350° C.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein annealing the carbon nanotubes decorated with the polymer coated metal nanoparticles is performed in a vacuum or inert gas environment.

Assignments (10)

Continuity (1)