Avalanche of Nanotechnology Patents in Second Week of January, 113+ Awarded in Accelerating Pace, 30 Uses of Nanotechnology Briefly Noted

 The rush to secure intellectual property related to nanotechnology continues unabated.  In the first week of January an estimated 102 nanotechnology patents were granted. At least 113 more nanotechnology related U.S. Patents were awarded on January 12, 2009. 

Thirty of the newly awarded patents and their relation to nanotechnology are noted below. The patent number, assignees and patent titles arecited followed by brief descriptions of where or how nanotechnology is used.   

Nano Notes,  Week of January 12,2010

U.S. Patent 7,644,479

Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Nagoya-shi, Aichi-ken, JP) Method of producing a piezoelectric actuator  Piezoelectric actuator in which diffusion-preventive layer is formed of metal nano-particles having a particle size of not more than 50 nm.

U.S. Patent 7,644,489

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MS) inventors William J. Arora,  Fernando Castano, Anthony J Nichol and George Barbastathis Thin membrane alignment method using patterned nanomagnets  Nanofabrication process for lithographically patterned magnetic material.  It is a way to build 3D nanostructures is by "stacking" 2D membranes or "folding" a large membrane into a layered structure.  Nanomagnets may be made of iron, cobalt, nickel or any alloy consisting primarily of one or more of these metals.

U.S. Patent  7,645,133

Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (Daejeon, KR) UV nanoimprint lithography process and apparatus  Next generation nanofabrication process for semiconductor production.

U.S. Patent  7,645,397

Nanosys, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) Nanocrystal doped matrixes  A nanocrystal density gradient, thereby creating an effective refractive index gradient. The matrixes can also be used as filters and antireflective coatings on optical devices and as down-converting layers. Processes for producing matrixes comprising semiconductor nanocrystals are also provided. Nanostructures having high quantum efficiency, small size, and/or a narrow size distribution are also described, as are methods of producing indium phosphide nanostructures and core-shell nanostructures with Group II-VI shells.

U.S. Patent  7,645,439

Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo (Mexico City, MX) Nanostructured titanium oxide material and its synthesis procedure New crystalline structure is the basic unit of construction of nanomaterials which are nanofibers, nanowires, nanorods, nanoscrolls and/or nanotubes. These nanomaterials are obtained from a precursor that is isostructural to the new crystalline structure. The precursor is composed of hydrogen titanate and/or a mixed sodium and hydrogen titanate. These titanates are the hydrogenated, protonated, hydrated and/or the alkalinized phases of the new crystalline structure. In addition, this invention also relates to the procedure of synthesis of the nanomaterials.  Nanomaterials are used in catalysis and materials fields

U.S. Patent  7,645,497

Eastman Kodak Company (Rochester, NY) Multi-layer conductor with carbon nanotubes  An electronically conductive article comprising at least one conductive carbon nanotube layer in contact with at least one conductive layer comprising electronically conductive polymer.

U.S. Patent  7,645,540

Rovcal, Inc. (Madison, WI)  Separators for alkaline electrochemical cells  Chemically synthesized agglomerates of a nano-CuO may also be used for the cathode. Such materials can be obtained from NanoScale Materials, Inc.

U.S. Patent  7,645,584

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc. (Gainesville, FL)  and Banyan Biomarkers (Alachua, FL) Biomarkers of liver injury  Digests are analyzed using nanospray liquid chromatography online with tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC/MSMS)

U.S. Patent  7,645,669

Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc. (Camas, WA) inventors Sheng Teng Hsu and  Fengyan Zhang  Nanotip capacitor  A nanotip capacitor and associated fabrication method are provided. The method provides a bottom electrode and grows electrically conductive nanotips overlying the bottom electrode. An electrically insulating dielectric is deposited overlying the nanotips, and an electrically conductive top electrode is deposited overlying dielectric-covered nanotips.  

U.S. Patent  7,645,780

Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA) Acetyl 2-hydroxy-1, 3-diaminoalkanes  The nano crystalline formulations typically afford greater bioavailability of drug compounds.

U.S. Patent  7,645,786

Pfizer Inc. (New York, NY) Substituted arylpyrazoles  Compounds for pharmaceutical use may be administered as crystalline or amorphous products, for example, spray-dried dispersions or as produced by melt-extrusion or nano-milling. Compounds may be administered include oral administration by capsule, bolus, tablet, powders, lozenges, chews, multi and nanoparticulates, gels, solid solution

U.S. Patent  7,645,828

Kawamura Institute of Chemical Research (Sakura-shi, JP) Monodisperse silica spheres containing polyamine and process for producing the same  Since polyethyleneimine is a strong ligand, metal ions can be concentrated within silica. Also, since polyethyleneimine can reduce noble metal ions to metal atoms, nanoparticles of noble metals can be conveniently immobilized within the silica. Since polyethyleneimine also has properties such as a sterilizing function, resistant to viruses, and the like, the spheres can also exhibit such properties. Therefore, the monodisperse silica spheres can be applied to various areas such as carriers for metal ions and/or nanometals, catalysts, antibacterial agent, disinfectants, antiviral agents, cosmetic products, and the like.

U.S. Patent  7,645,933

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (Madison, WI) Carbon nanotube Schottky barrier photovoltaic cell  Carbon nanotube Schottky barrier photovoltaic cells and methods and apparatus for making the cells.

U.S. Patent  7,645,934

Nanosolar, Inc. (San Jose, CA) Nanostructured layer and fabrication methods  Nanostructured layers with 10 nm to 50 nm pores spaced 10-50 nm apart, a method for making such nanostructured layers, optoelectronic devices having such nanostructured layers

U.S. Patent  7,646,001

David Michael Feyler  (Westwood, MA) Fake ID finder  A device to magnify a driver's license sufficiently to view the micro printing, nano printing and Ultra Violet features for fine detailed inspection.

U.S. Patent  7,646,025

Chien-Min Sung (Tansui, Taipei County 251, TW) Diamond LED devices and associated methods A way of forming epitaxially a substantially nanometer single crystal diamond layer on the SiC layer

U.S. Patent  7,646,142

Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. (Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, KR) Field emission device (FED) having cathode aperture to improve electron beam focus and its method of manufacture  Emitter comprises carbon nano-tubes (CNTs), graphite nano-particles, or nano-diamonds.

U.S. Patent  7,646,494

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Madrid, ES) System and method for detecting the displacement of a plurality of micro- and nanomechanical elements, such as micro-cantilevers  Micro- or nanomechanical elements, for example, micro- or nanomechanical cantilevers clamped at one or both ends, elastic membranes, etc.

U.S. Patent  7,646,587

Showa Denko K.K. (Tokyo, JP) Electric double layer capacitor uses a carbon nano-tube or a carbon nano-fiber.

U.S. Patent  7,646,588

Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, JP) Miyahara; Tomoko (Kanagawa, JP), Anazawa; Kazunori (Kanagawa, JP) Carbon nanotube film, production process thereof and capacitor using the same  Synthesis of carbon nanotube carboxyl acid in Clause (Introduction of functional groups into small diameter carbon nanotube)

U.S. Patent  7,646,641

Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) NAND flash memory with nitride charge storage gates and fabrication process  Fabrication process advances to very small geometries, e.g., tens of nanometer

U.S. Patent  7,646,799

Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH (Regensburg, DE) Edge emitting semiconductor laser comprising a plurality of monolithically integrated laser diodes  Laser diodes preferably have a quantum well structure. It encompasses, inter alia, quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots

U.S. Patent  7,647,618

Charles Eric Hunter; (Hilton Head Island, SC), Bernard L Ballou, Jr.;. (Raleigh, NC), Kelly C. Sparks; (Morrisville, NC), John H. Hebrank; (Durham, NC) Video distribution system  Nanometer lasers are cost-effective for writing conventional CDs.

U.S. Patent  7,645,253

National Quality Care, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA) Wearable ultrafiltration device may use nanotechnology pump, microtechnology/micromachined pump, syringe pump

U.S. Patent  7,645,308

Regents of the University of California (Oakland, CA) Osmium diboride compounds and their uses  Nanoindentation₂. The osmium diboride compounds may be used in the same manner as other super hard material as a protective surface coating, a cutting or abrading tool surface coating or as an abrasive. measurements were thus performed on OsB

U.S. Patent  7,645,326

James Neil Rodgers (Langley, BC, CA) RFID environmental manipulation  Uses aluminum oxide particles, introduced in minute or nanoparticle form.

U.S. Patent  7,646,080

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Tu-Cheng, Taipei Hsien, TW) Protective film structure contains nano particles comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of carbon nano tubes, carbon nano sticks, carbon 60, carbon particles, nano-sized conductive metals, nano-sized semiconductors, and any combination thereof.

U.S. Patent  7,646,948

Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, JP) Flexible optical waveguide film, optical transceiver module, multi-channel optical transceiver module, and method of manufacturing flexible optical waveguide film  Curable organopolysiloxanes, liquid silicone rubber which becomes silicone rubber when cured is excellent in the contradictory properties of adhering and coming off to and from the film substrate for the bottom clad, and it is capable of duplicating nano-structures and preventing a liquid from entering when made to tightly adhere to the film substrate for the bottom clad.

U.S. Patent  7,647,100

Power Paper Ltd. (Beit Shemesh, IL) Method, apparatus, and kit for onychomycosis treatment Pharmaceutical formulations include incorporation in nano-particles, liposomes, microemulsions. Anti-fungal formulations.

U.S. Patent  7,645,318

Vive Nano, Inc. (Toronto, CA) Producing nanoparticles using nanoscale polymer templates Methods of producing a composite nanoparticle comprising a nanoparticle confined within or associated with a shape-static polymeric material, which is itself a nanoparticle

Boston College Researchers Extend Range of Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy with Nanoscale Magnifiers

Nanoscale optical probes using carbon nanotubes that facilitate sub-wavelength, sub-diffraction limit, and spatial resolution for near-field scanning optical microscopes are disclosed in U.S. Patent 7,623,746.  Boston College researchers developed a nanoscale optical probe for use with a near-field scanning optical microscope that includes an inner conductor with a top end, a bottom end, and a body; a dielectric material which surrounds the inner conductor; and an outer conductor which surrounds the dielectric material.  The inner conductor is longer at a tip surface of the probe than the dielectric material and the outer conductor. The nanoscale optical probe can achieve resolutions of less than about 10 nanometers (nm) in a transverse direction. In the art for nanoscale optical probes, the Boston College probe extends the range of measurements possible compared with conventional near-field scanning optical microscopy techniques.

Professor Michael J. Naughton, Krzysztof J. Kempa and Zhifeng Ren created a magnifying element for use with a near-field scanning optical microscope.  The magnifying probe is made of a film with a top surface, a bottom surface and cylindrical channels and an array of nanoscale optical probes penetrating the film through cylindrical channels.   Each nanoscale optical probe has an inner nanowire with a top end, a bottom end, and a body; a dielectric material which surrounds the inner nanowire; and an outer metal material which surrounds the dielectric material. Because the width of the inner conductor may be significantly smaller than the wavelength of visible light, which is in the range of about 300 nm to about 700 nm, the nanoscale optical probe may be used to image objects with spatial resolution well under this range.

The inventors developed a method of fabricating a nanoscale optical probe which involves growing a carbon nanotube (CNT) on the optical fiber; depositing a dielectric material over the carbon nanotube; and depositing an outer metal material over the dielectric material. They also fabricated a nanoscale optical probe by electrodepositing a catalytic transition metal on an AFM-type tip; growing a carbon nanotube (CNT) on the optical fiber; depositing a dielectric material over the carbon nanotube; and depositing an outer metal material over the dielectric material.

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is used grow the carbon nanotube. A dielectric photovoltaic material having both electrical conductivity and transparency (for example silicon- and non-silicon-based materials) is deposited over the carbon nanotube via (for example, via PECVD, sputtering, or evaporation). Typically, the dielectric material is coated to yield a thickness of about 10 nm to about 200 nm. An outer metal (for example, aluminum) is then deposited (via CVD, sputtering or evaporation) over the dielectric material, forming a nanoscale optical probe having a coplanar waveguide configuration. If desired, the outer metal may be removed from the bottom surface of the probe (via focused ion beam or wet etch), thus exposing the photovoltaic material and the carbon nanotube, yielding a nano-optical antenna at the substrate surface of the probe. 

Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is a type of microscopy where a sub-wavelength light source, usually a fiber tip with an aperture smaller than 100 nm, is used as a scanning probe over a sample. Near-field scanning optical microscopy is one in a family of scanned probe techniques that includes scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) where an image is obtained by raster scanning a probe across a surface collecting data at an array of points during the scan. In order to achieve an optical resolution better than the diffraction limit, the scanning probe has to be brought within the near-field region (that part of the radiated field nearest to the antenna, where the radiation pattern depends on the distance from the antenna). NSOM is based upon the detection of non-propagating evanescent waves in the near-field region. The probe is scanned over a surface of the sample at a height above the surface of a few nanometers and allows optical imaging with spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit.

The scanning probe can either detect in the near-field directly, by means of the sub-wavelength size aperture (collection mode), or by using the probe as a waveguide with a sub-wavelength scattering source and detecting the evanescent waves as they propagate into the far-field (transmission mode). The achievable optical resolution of NSOM is mainly determined by the aperture size of the scanning probe and the probe-surface gap. NSOM may, in theory, be combined with any spectroscopic technique to gather spectra from small regions of a sample. Infrared (IR), Raman, visible, and V, as well as NSOM fluorescence, photoluminescence, photoconductance, and magnetooptical (MOKE) spectroscopies have been investigated.

Intel Inhibitor Directs Growth of Carbon Nanotube Patterns for Microelectronics

Carbon nanotubes are a promising material for a wide variety of applications. They are of interest due to a number of potential advantages over currently used materials, such as intrinsically small size, extremely high carrier mobility, heat conduction characteristics, mechanical strength, and others. For example, in microelectronics applications, carbon nanotubes may replace silicon in transistor applications and/or metal traces in interconnect applications, depending on the chirality and other characteristics of the carbon nanotube employed.

To utilize carbon nanotubes in some applications, it is necessary to form a single patterned carbon nanotube or patterns of well-ordered and aligned carbon nanotube arrays. However, forming patterned carbon nanotubes has many difficulties. Current techniques typically include an in situ force (e.g., electric field or flow dynamics) to direct carbon nanotube growth. Those techniques have many limitations, such as directing carbon nanotubes in only one direction (i.e., along the field lines or flow direction), which limits the arrangement and design of the carbon nanotube patterns.

Intel, in U.S. Patent Application 20090283496, reveals one of its methods to integrate patterned carbon nanotubes into semiconductor devices. Intel inventors provide structures and methods that enable the fabrication of well-ordered patterns of single carbon nanotubes and arrays of carbon nanotubes that include patterns having any chosen direction and shape through the use of growth inhibitor materials.

Intel researchers Marko Radosavljevic, Jack T. Kavalieros, Amlan Majumdar and Suman Datta have developed a method of forming a carbon nanotube pattern on a substrate surface by using an inhibitor. The carbon nanotube inhibitor directs the growth of the carbon nanotube in a well ordered fashion. The carbon nanotube inhibitor makes use of platinum.

The inhibitor pattern may be formed by well known lift-off techniques. In general, a lift-off technique includes forming a mask by lithography or other patterning technique, providing a bulk material layer over the mask, and a lift-off process to leave a pattern of the bulk material. For example, a mask that has the necessary pattern is first formed on substrate by lithography techniques. Then, a layer of material is formed over the mask, such as by a metallization step. Next, the mask is removed using a lift-off technique to leave inhibitor pattern. The lift-off technique may remove portions of the layer of material that were over the mask and leave portions of the layer of material that were over openings in the mask.

Seed pattern materials for the inhibitor include any catalyst material that provides a seed for the formation of carbon nanotubes. Intel's seed pattern includes an iron catalyst. Other seed pattern catalyst materials include suitable transition metals, such as scandium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, yttrium, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, cadmium, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, rhenium, osmium, iridium, or gold. In addition, seed pattern may include a matrix material to support the catalyst, such as aluminum oxide.

UCSD Researchers Discover That Defects in Carbon Nanotubes Could Lead to Improved Charge and Energy Storage Systems

Defective carbon nanotubes could serve as supercapacitor electrodes with enhanced charge and energy storage capacity (inset: a magnified view of a single carbon nanotube).
Credit: University of California, San Diego

Prabhakar Bandaru, a professor in the UCSD Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, along with graduate student Mark Hoefer, discovered that artificially introduced defects in carbon nanotubes can aid the development of supercapacitors.

“While batteries have large storage capacity, they take a long time to charge; while electrostatic capacitors can charge quickly but typically have limited capacity. However, supercapacitors/electrochemical capacitors incorporate the advantages of both,” Bandaru said.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been generally hailed as one of the wonder materials of the 21st century and have been widely recognized as ushering in the nanotechnology revolution. They are cylindrical structures, with diameters of 1 to 100 nanometers, that have been suggested to have outstanding structural, chemical, and electrical, characteristics based on their atomically perfect structures with a large surface area-to-volume ratio. However, defects are inevitable in such a practical structure, an aspect that was first investigated by UCSD engineering graduate student Jeff Nichols and then substantially extended by Hoefer in Bandaru’s lab.

“We first realized that defective CNTs could be used for energy storage when we were investigating their use as electrodes for chemical sensors,” Hoefer said. “During our initial tests we noticed that we were able to create charged defects that could be used to increase CNT charge storage capabilities.”

Specifically, defects on nanotubes create additional charge sites enhancing the stored charge. The researchers have also discovered methods which could increase or decrease the charge associated with the defects by bombarding the CNTs with argon or hydrogen.

“It is important to control this process carefully as too many defects can deteriorate the electrical conductivity, which is the reason for the use of CNTs in the first place. Good conductivity helps in efficient charge transport and increases the power density of these devices,” Bandaru added.

“At the very outset, it is interesting that CNTs, which are nominally considered perfect, could be useful with so many incorporated defects,” he added.

The researchers think that the energy density and power density obtained through their work could be practically higher than existing capacitor configurations which suffer from problems associated with poor reliability, cost, and poor electrical characteristics.

Bandaru and Hoefer hope that their research could have major implications in the area of energy storage, a pertinent topic of today. “We hope that our research will spark future interest in utilizing CNTs as electrodes in charge storage devices with greater energy and power densities,” Hoefer said.

While more research still needs to be done to figure out potential applications from this discovery, the engineers suggest that this research could lead to wide variety of commercial applications, and hope that more scientists and engineers will be compelled to work in this area, Bandaru said.

M. Hoefer and P.R. Bandaru, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science Program, University of California, San Diego published their findings in article entitled “Determination and enhancement of the capacitance contributions in carbon nanotube based electrode systems,” in Applied Physics Letters.

Lockheed Martin Tests Carbon Nanotube-Based Memory Devices on NASA Shuttle Mission

A radiation-resistant version of NRAM(TM) carbon-nanotube-based memory, developed jointly by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Nantero, was tested on a recent Space Shuttle mission. The NRAM(TM) was incorporated by NASA into special autonomous testing configurations installed into a carrier at the aft end of the payload bay. It was launched into space as part of STS-125, the May 2009 mission of the Space Shuttle Atlantis that successfully serviced the Hubble Space Telescope. The project was managed by Dan Powell, Chief Nanotechnologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

"Lockheed Martin is a leader in the research, development and application of nanotechnology to future government applications," said Dr. Jim Ryder, vice president and general manager of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto. "This demonstration of carbon-nanotube-based semiconductor devices in the rigorous conditions of space is an important step towards a whole new suite of future applications."

The experiment was a proof-of-concept that enabled the testing of launch and re-entry survivability, as well as basic functionality of the carbon nanotube switches on orbit throughout the shuttle mission. The NRAM(TM) devices were early prototype parts, and performed the same before, during, and after completion of the mission. This mission represents an important first step in the development of high-density, non-volatile, carbon-nanotube-based memories for spaceflight applications. Lockheed Martin and NASA are working on plans for future NRAM(TM) flights.

Carbon nanotubes are tiny cylindrical carbon molecules just 1/50,000th the diameter of a human hair that possess unique electrical and structural properties. The word nanotube is, of course, from nanometer (10-9 meters or approximately 10 carbon atoms) and tubular (the shape of a rolled up sheet of graphene that forms a carbon nanotube). Carbon nanotubes are half the density of aluminum, 50 times stronger than steel, thermally stable in vacuum up to nearly 3,000 degrees Centigrade, efficient conductors of heat and may be either metallic or direct bandgap semiconductors.

Thomas Rueckes, Nantero's Co-founder and CTO, said, "We are proud of the success of our NRAM memory devices in even the harshest of conditions, and honored for being selected by NASA for this mission."

Dan Powell of GSFC, said "Carbon nanotubes have tremendous potential for a wide range of future space-based applications, and we couldn't be happier for the success of this experiment."

Lockheed Martin recognizes the critical importance of nanotechnology to its current and future portfolio of products and services. Direct benefits of nanotechnology for government customers could include stronger, lighter and less expensive materials; more capable systems; and enhanced personal protection for military and first responders. Through partnerships with small businesses and universities, Lockheed Martin is leveraging its own investment in nanotechnology to develop innovative solutions for the most demanding technological challenges. Lockheed Martin Nanosystems is a business unit of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

Nantero is a nanotechnology company using carbon nanotubes for the development of next-generation semiconductor devices. Nantero's main focus is the development of NRAM(TM). Nantero is also working with licensees on the development of additional applications of Nantero's core nanotube-based technology. Lockheed Martin holds an exclusive license arrangement with Nantero for government applications of Nantero's extensive intellectual property portfolio. More information on Nantero, Inc. is available in English and Japanese at http://www.nantero.com.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

Pakistani Process Produces Hydrogen for Fuel Cells and High Purity Carbon Nanotubes

Pakistani researchers have found a way to make carbon nanotubes more profitable by simultaneously producing hydrogen along with high purity CNTs while at the same time reducing CO2 emissions and CNT purification costs.

Syed Tajammul Hussain, Mohammed Mazhar, Sheraz Gul and M. Abdullah Khan at Quaid-e-Azam University have developed novel catalysts to manufacture carbon nanotubes and simultaneously produce hydrogen gas suitable for fuel cells more economically. The process produces a pure form of graphitic carbon directly without requiring purification at lower temperatures. The process includes the dispersion of catalyst particles inside the silica discs and calcination at 600.degree. C. for 4-hours to produce Ni:Cu catalyst particles inside the silicon disc thereby eliminating the contamination of catalyst particles in the carbon structure. Advantageously, the process permits the production of CNTs in the 97-98% pure form of very fine particles (2-10 nm) range, according to U.S Patent Application 20090208403.

The design of the catalyst material using nickel and copper restricts the formation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (CO/CO2) during the catalytic reaction. This material ranges from 5-30% by weight inside the pores of the silicon discs. The deposition of copper and molybdenum inside the pores of CNTs can produce antiferromagnetic material for industrial applications. The process is worked at low temperature (450.degree. C.- 550.degree. C) at atmospheric pressure and produces a substantial amount of carbon structures, hydrogen enriched fuel and antiferromagnetic material.

Many processes which utilize hydrocarbon decomposition produce hydrogen which is enriched with CO/CO2 contamination, thus increasing the overall economics of the product and consequently cannot be used directly in the fuel cell systems apart from increasing the concentration of green house gasses in the environment. Furthermore, all the processes used to date for the production of CNTs either require high temperature or high pressure processes and need an extra purification step, which is a major obstacle in the economic manufacture and use of the CNTs. Apart from this, the hydrogen produced is contaminated with CO/CO2 and consequently it cannot be used for fuel cell applications, says the inventors.

The Quaid-e-Azam University discovery provides an improved, simple and economical method of synthesizing carbon nanotubes which limits or separation and contamination problems and simplifies the entire process. The process also controls the purity of CNTs during production and produces modified fuel enriched with hydrogen for direct use in fuel cells and reduces environmental carbon emissions by at least 20% compared to other processes.

The image below is a micrograph of carbon nanotubes using  Quaid-e-Azam University's process at pictured in the patent application.

Carbon Nanotube Invisible Inks to Combat $500 Billion Counterfeit Goods Industry

Rice University is offering a license for its invisible carbon nanotube ink to protect against fraud and counterfeiting. The ink can be used to create fluorescent security tags in a wide variety of wavelength-specific forms.

In the year 2000, the World Health Organization estimated that more than 7% of the world’s pharmaceuticals were counterfeit. In the United States alone, the loss to counterfeit drugs was estimated to be in the range of $2 billion. By 2005, the estimate of the world’s pharmaceutical supply chain loss was more than 10% of the world supply of drugs or $32 billion a year. Concerning less critical products in the supply chain of goods, the financial loss to counterfeit commodity products amounted to more than $500 billion and more than 7% of all trade in 2004. The losses were so staggering that the Federal government started a federal program called "Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy" (STOP!) to fight the frauds. Despite the effort, counterfeiting is still estimated to account for some 5% of world trade with record losses increasing each year. It affects every part of our lives from currency to clothing to medicine.

As a result of advanced printing ink technology, invisible inks have found a new venue in business and commerce as a means of protection against fraud, counterfeiting, and theft. The most useful inks are those that are invisible after printing, but which can be made visible through various means to prove the authenticity of a particular document. These products are being used to authenticate a broad range of valuable commercial documents, such as stock certificates, bearer bonds, checks, lottery tickets, and vouchers. Also, particularly in light of recent terrorist activity, security tags in general are being applied to protect against the misuse of personal identification documents, such as Social Security cards, passports, visas, identification cards, credit/debit cards, automobile licenses, and vital business and health records. Counterfeiting, estimated to account for some 5% of world trade with record losses increasing each year, affects every part of our lives from currency to clothing to medicine.

Commercially-available security tags, such as inks used in documents as a covert security feature, are colorless and transparent after printing, making them undetectable under normal light conditions. Applied by themselves or incorporated into another security ink, they become visible under UV light. To further foil counterfeiters, the UV-fluorescent effect is impossible to photocopy or digitally recreate. Fluorescent and phosphorescent inks requiring UV light have been used in many applications. The new US $20 bill has a photochromic thread that glows green under UV light and essentially is invisible to a photocopier. However, though conventional fluorescent inks are invisible under normal light, these inks can usually be seen when illuminated by a UV or blacklight emitting long- or short-wave UV (350-400nm); thus limiting their security or concealment, in that they are visible under a range of wavelengths.

Professors in Rice’s Chemistry Department have pioneered the use of carbon nanotubes as the embodiment of improved, highly-specific security tags. Nanotubes can be grown in a variety of diameters, and each size has its own characteristic absorption and emission wavelengths. For example, an aqueous suspension of single-walled carbon nanotubes can be applied to paper or cloth. When allowed a few minutes to dry, this “nanotag” is virtually invisible, but fluoresces when illuminated under a specific wavelength. The resulting images can be visualized in the near-IR using appropriate InGaAs camera equipment. Spectral filtering can distinguish different nanotube species in the tag, because each will show distinct absorption and emission wavelengths. When partially or fully structure-separated nanotube samples are used, the corresponding tags will have distinct wavelengths of excitation and emission. Other fluorescent inks do not offer a variety of wavelength-specific forms that can provide this added security feature. Also, there is virtually no background emission in the near-IR, thus only tiny quantities of nanotubes are required for marking.

The discovery that carbon nanotubes emit near-IR light after absorbing light at visible or UV wavelengths could have applications in nanoelectronics and biomedical industries in addition to those of conventional fluorescent inks. Nanotube tags, comprised of nanotubes of different diameters, could selectively inscribe different denominations of currency. Nanotube tags might also be used as spectral bar codes for non-contact identification of items such as clothing. Professor Bruce Weisman, one of the inventors, expects that fluorescence will provide a very sensitive and selective method for detecting nanotubes in environmental and biological systems. It may lead to the use of nanotubes as biomedical contrast agents for non-invasive imaging of particular types of cells. In addition, the nanotubes can be used in non-ink form in a greater range of applications.

Rice University scientists Gyou-Jin Cho,  Min Hun Jung,  Jared L Hudson and  James M. Tour invented an ink-jet printing method for the construction of thin film transistors (TFT) using all SWNTs on flexible plastic films is a new process. This method is more practical than all of exiting printing methods in the construction TFT and RFID tags because SWNTs have superior properties of both electrical and mechanical over organic conducting oligomers and polymers which often used for TFT. Furthermore, this method can be applied on thin films such as paper and plastic films while silicon based techniques can not used on such flexible films. These are superior to the traditional conducting polymers used in printable devices since they need no dopant and they are more stable. They could be used in conjunction with conducting polymers, or as stand-alone inks.  U.S. Patent Application 20090173935 details this use.

Rice University has more than a dozen nanotechnology licenses available.  Parties interested in the Rice nanotechnology licenses should contact Ms. Luba Pacala (713-348-5590, email: lpacala@rice.eduInvention) at Rice University's Technology Transfer Office.