Government College University, Faisalabad.

Instructor : Dr.Taqmeem Hussain

Seminar 1(0-1) Phy-629

Department of Physics
BS Physics, 8th Semester (E), 2019-2023
Name : Haroon Haider
Roll no: 13045
Presentation date : 4 -7-2023
NANOWIRES IN CARBON NANOTUBES HAVE HUGE SOLAR ENERGY
APPLICATION
 What is nanoscience and technology?

Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about
1 to 100 nanometers. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely
small things.
 What is nanowires ?

A nanowire is a nanostructure in the form of

a wire with the diameter of the order of a
nanometre (10−9 metres). More generally,
nanowires can be defined as structures that
have a thickness or diameter constrained to tens
of nanometers or less and an unconstrained
length. At these scales, quantum mechanical
effects are important—which coined the term
"quantum wires".
 Many different types

• of nanowires exist, including

• Superconducting (e.g. YBCO[2]),
• metallic (e.g. Ni, Pt, Au, Ag),
• semiconducting (e.g. Silicon nanowires (SiNWs), InP, GaN) and
insulating (e.g. SiO2, TiO2).
• Molecular nanowires are composed of repeating molecular units either
organic (e.g. DNA) or inorganic (e.g. Mo6S9−xIx).
Futuristic new technologies.
The most efficient computers, transformative medical devices, synthetic muscles, or perhaps
the most ambitious of all, space elevators, the dream of countless sci-fi authors,
Carbon nanotubes has promised to be the catalyst for the next revolution in technology.
But, putting this revolutionary material to work will not be easy.
It turns out that building a fibre, that is actually a single molecule, of any significant

length is incredibly difficult.

To understand this fascinating molecule, let’s dive into the chemical makeup of carbon nanotubes.
Carbon is a very familiar element.
It’s in everything we eat, sleep on and step over.
It is the element that holds our DNA together.
It forms the carbohydrates, proteins and lipids that we depend on to build and fuel our bodies.
It’s the basis of life as we know it.
It’s ubiquity in our lives is a result of its versatility.
It’s chemical properties allow it to take many different shapes, each impacting it’s
material properties in diverse and unique ways.-
Manufacturing carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes strength relies on creating a continuous perfect lattice of carbon atoms

in a long tube, and that process is not something we have yet developed.

So how can we create carbon nanotubes?

Things have changed a bit since the days of Sumio Ijima’s first discovery.

The most promising method for industrial scale production of high purity carbon nanotubes

is chemical vapor deposition.

Manufacturing method
A precursor gas containing carbon, like methane (CH4)

is introduced into a vacuum chamber and heated.

As the heat increases inside the chamber the bonds between the carbon and hydrogen atoms

begin to decompose.

The carbon then diffuses into a melted metal catalyst substrate.

This then becomes a metal-carbon solution, which eventually becomes supersaturated with
carbon.
At this point the carbon starts to precipitate out and form carbon nanotubes..

While the hydrogen bi-product is vented out of the chamber to avoid an explosion
Making carbon nanotubes excellent conductors.
The conducting core of cables that make up our overhead grid lines are typically made
from aluminium.
Even though aluminium is a poorer conductor than copper, and thus causes a greater loss

in power over the lines.

It’s used because it’s cheaper and lighter.
Allowing support structures for overhead lines to be spaced further apart.
Individual nanotubes are orders of magnitudes more conductive than copper, but creating
a yarn of nanotubes that could match copper has been a challenge.
Electrons move through individual nanotubes very efficiently, but when the tube comes
o an end the current meets resistance when jumping to a neighbouring tube.
So these longer tubes developed last year are opening doors to conductors that are vastly
lighter than aluminium and more conductive than copper.
Nanotubes are quite elastic.
Capable of stretching to 18% of their original length and returning to their original shape
after.

This could allow conductive carbon fibre wires to be incorporated into wearable technology.
The carbon fibre threads can even be treated like a normal thread and sewn into a fabric
using a sewing machine.
Perhaps the most exciting application is in biomedical devices.
Carbon nanotubes are biocompatible.
Meaning they are not toxic, non reactive, and do not elicit an immune response.
Combine this with their conductivity,flexibility and strength, nanotubes become extremely attractive
as neural interface material.
A large part of Neuralink, Elon Musk’s neural interface companies, efforts have been focusing
on creating smaller wires and the machines needed to implant them.
Graphene,
Carbon nanotubes are essentially molecular sheets of carbon atoms, also known as graphene,
which are arranged in a hexagonal lattice or honeycomb arrangement – a bit like chicken
wire.
These sheets are organized in layers and manipulated into a cylindrical shape.
So basically, graphene is the basis for Carbon Nanotubes.You can't have Carbon Nanotubes without graphene.
Now, these nanotubes can be designed and arranged in many ways:
* Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) are made of, as you might imagine, a single layer
of graphene.
The way in which they are rolled can impact their conductivity.
* Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWNTs) are an extension of Single-Walled.
They're made-up of multiple layers of graphene which better insulates their thermal and chemical
properties compared with Single-Walled tubes.
* Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (DWNTs) are a combination of Single-Walled and Multi-Walled
- with thermal, chemical and conductivity properties that are intermediate compared
to the other two.
Depending on how the hexagonal lattice is rolled, it affects what's called the chiral
angle of the final tube.
types:
armchair, zig-zag, and chiral nanotubes.
How we improve solar panel efficiency?

Just last year Rice University had two interesting advancements.

One team of researches showed that double-walled nanotubes could have a dramatic impact on

solar panel efficiency because of the double-wall’s efficiency at separating positive and negative

charges to create current.

Another team has come up with a method to improve solar panel efficiency by up to 80%.

The fascinating part of this discovery is not that the nanotubes are actually improving

the panel efficiency directly, but more in how it helps to capture unused potential ... heat.

To be more specific, infrared heat from the sun.

Halide Perovskites

Tiny materials one hundred thousand times smaller than the width of a strand of hair could be used to
improve solar cell technology. A study published this month in Advanced Materials shows that materials as
small as 1.2 nanometers across could function in solar cells, which harvest energy from the sun. The inorganic
halide materials are templated within carbon nanotubes, tiny tubules formed from carbon atoms..
Researchers
from the University of Warwick, Oxford Materials and SuperSTEM, a U.K. national center for electron
microscopy, revealed the absolute minimum limit at which halide perovskite-like structures can be produced as
free-standing materials inside carbon nanotube. Halide perovskites have similar structures to calcium titanate
and are commonly used in solar panels and light emitting diodes (LEDs).
Dr. Jeremy Sloan, from Warwick's Department of Physics said, "In contrast to large 'bulk' halide perovskites,
we show that much smaller 'picoscale' halide perovskite structures just a single unit cell or even just one
quarter of a unit cell in cross section can be encapsulated in carbon nanotubes ranging between 1.2–1.6nm
in diameter. "
References

https://phys.org/news/2023-03-nanowires-carbon-nanotubes-hugesolar.html
www.sciencetimes.com/articles/43037/20230329/nanowires-inside-carbon

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/nl073070d

https://www.britannica.com/.../Nanotubes-and-nanowires
THANK YOU
To all of you