Methods are disclosed for manufacturing carbon rods from lignin scrap and for using such lignin-derived carbon rods for manufacturing carbon nanotubes in an arc discharge process.

Disclosed herein is a composition having a plurality of particles of a filler material and crosslinking units having the formula —(SiR—CH.sub.2—CH.sub.2—CH.sub.2)—. The silicon atom in the crosslinking unit is directly or indirectly bound to the filler material. Each R is alkyl, alkenyl, phenyl, methyl, ethyl, allyl, halogen, chloro, or bromo. Also disclosed herein is a filler material having the silicon atom of a silacyclobutane group is directly or indirectly bound thereto. Also disclosed herein is a method of crosslinking silacyclobutane groups bound to a plurality of particles of a filler material. The silicon atom of the silacyclobutane group is directly or indirectly bound to the filler material. Also disclosed herein is a composition including a plurality of fibers of a polymer having reactive oxygen atoms and siloxane groups. Coordination bonds are formed between the oxygen atoms and the silicon atoms of the siloxane groups of separate fibers.

The present invention is a carbon nanotube aggregate having a three-dimensional shape. The carbon nanotube aggregate having a three-dimensional shape includes a first surface, a second surface and a side surface, wherein a carbon nanotube of the first surface has a Herman orientation coefficient greater than −0.1 and smaller than 0.2, a carbon nanotube of the second surface has a Herman orientation coefficient greater than −0.1 and smaller than 0.2, and a carbon nanotube of the side surface has degree of orientation in which a Herman orientation coefficient is 0.2 or more and 0.99 or less, and the first surface and second surface are mutually arranged in parallel and the side surface is perpendicular with respect to the first surface and second surface.

In an embodiment, a method includes liberating feed atoms and forming at least one nanotube from the liberated feed atoms. Feed atoms disposed over a front side of a substrate are liberated in response to electromagnetic radiation that propagates from the back side of the substrate, through the substrate, to the front side of the substrate. And, from the liberated feed atoms, at least one nanotube is formed over the front side of the substrate in response to at least one catalyst separate from the substrate and disposed over the front side of the substrate and over the feed atoms.

One or more techniques are disclosed for a method for functionalized a graphitic material comprising the steps of: 1) providing a graphitic material; 2) providing a first molecule comprising a first group, a spacer, and a second group; 3) providing a second molecule comprising a third group, a spacer, and a fourth group, wherein the third group is a different group from the first group; and 4) bonding the first molecule and the second molecule to the graphitic material. Also disclosed is a tunable material composition comprising the functionalized carbon nanotubes or functionalized graphene prepared by the methods described herein.

A solution is provided comprising boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) in a liquid solvent. An optical waveguide, such as an optical fiber, is contacted with the solution so as to form a layer of the solution supported on at least a portion of the optical waveguide. The liquid solvent is then removed from the layer of the solution supported on the optical waveguide in order to form a coating of the BNNTs on the optical waveguide. Further provided is a BNNT coated optical waveguide for use as a sensor.

Metal oxide nanostructure and methods of making metal oxide nanostructures are provided. The metal oxide nanostructures can be 1-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires, nanofibers, or nanotubes. The metal oxide nanostructures can be doped or un-doped metal oxides. The metal oxide nanostructures can be deposited onto a variety of substrates. The deposition can be performed without high pressures and without the need for seed catalysts on the substrate. The deposition can be performed by laser ablation of a target including a metal oxide and, optionally, a dopant. In some embodiments zinc oxide nanostructures are deposited onto a substrate by pulsed laser deposition of a zinc oxide target using an excimer laser emitting UV radiation. The zinc oxide nanostructure can be doped with a rare earth metal such as gadolinium. The metal oxide nanostructures can be used in many devices including light-emitting diodes and solar cells.

An object of the present invention is to provide zirconium oxide nanoparticles that have excellent dispersibility in a polar solvent and are capable of increasing a core concentration in a dispersion liquid. Zirconium oxide nanoparticles according to the present invention are coated with at least one compound selected from the group consisting of R.sup.1—COOH, (R.sup.1O).sub.3-n—P(O)—(OH).sub.n, (R.sup.1).sub.3-n—P(O)—(OH).sub.n, (R.sup.1O)—S(O)(O)—(OH), R.sup.1—S(O)(O)—(OH), and (R.sup.1).sub.4-m—Si(R.sup.4).sub.m, wherein R.sup.1 represents a group comprising a carbon atom and at least one element selected from the group consisting of an oxygen atom, a nitrogen atom, and a sulfur atom, and having the total number of carbon atoms, oxygen atoms, nitrogen atoms, and sulfur atoms of 8 or less; R.sup.4 represents a halogen atom or —OR.sup.2, and R.sup.2 represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group; and n represents 1 or 2, and m represents an integer of 1 to 3.

An apparatus for continuous preparation of carbon nanotubes, based on a fluidized bed reactor. The fluidized bed reactor comprises an annular varying diameter zone, a raw material gas inlet, a catalyst feeding port, a protective gas inlet, and a pulse gas controller. The annular varying diameter zone is located at a zone from a ¼ position starting from the bottom to the top. The pulse gas controller is disposed at the arc-shaped top portion of the annular varying diameter zone. The catalyst feeding port is located at the top of the fluidized bed reactor. The raw material gas inlet and the protective gas inlet are located at the bottom of the fluidized bed reactor. The device is also provided with a product outlet and a tail gas outlet. The device has a simple structure and low cost, is easy to operate, has a high raw material utilization rate, can effectively control the problem of carbon deposition on the inner wall of a primary reactor, can manufacture high-purity carbon nanotubes, and is suitable for large-scale industrial production.

A fibrous carbon nanostructure dispersion liquid contains a solvent and fibrous carbon nanostructures having at least one absorption peak in a wavenumber region of 500 cm.sup.−1 to 600 cm.sup.−1 in a light absorption spectrum.