SUBSTRATE THAT IS ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE ON AT LEAST ONE OF THE FACES OF SAME PROVIDED WITH A STACK OF THIN LAYERS FOR GROWING CARBONB NANOTUBES (CNTs)

• US 20160115031A1
• Filed: 05/27/2014
• Published: 04/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation), General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Inventors: Dijon, Jean, Okuno, Hanako, Ramos, Raphael
• Granted Patent: US 10,370,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 23/745 Iron
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 27/24 Nitrogen compounds
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 15/012 one layer being formed of an iron alloy or steel, another layer being formed of aluminium or an aluminium alloy
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 15/013 one layer being formed of an iron alloy or steel, another layer being formed of a metal other than iron or aluminium
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 15/017 one layer being formed of aluminium or an aluminium alloy, another layer being formed of an alloy based on a non ferrous metal other than aluminium
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 40/00 Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 32/16 Preparation
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 32/162 characterised by catalysts
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/0272 Deposition of sub-layers, e.g. to promote the adhesion of the main coating
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/26 Deposition of carbon only
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/023 only coatings of metal elements only
• CPC Class Codes: H01G 11/36 Nanostructures, e.g. nanofibres, nanotubes or fullerenes
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/625 Carbon or graphite
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/821 comprising carbon nanotubes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

The invention concerns a substrate that is electrical conductive on at least one of the faces of same, provided with a stack of thin layers comprising at least one layer of catalyst material suitable for accelerating the growth of carbon nanotubes, characterised in that the stack comprises the sequence of thin layers deposited in the following order on top of said at least one electrically conductive face of the substrate: a) optionally, a metal made from metal M or a layer of a metal alloy made from metal M or a graphene layer; b) a titanium layer (Ti); c) an aluminum layer (Al); d) a layer of catalyst material(s) for the growth of carbon nanotubes. The invention also concerns a functional substrate (6) comprising a substrate coated with a carbon nanotube (NTC) mat, a production method and the uses of such a functional substrate.

Claims

1. A substrate which is electrically conducting on at least one of its faces, provided with a stack of thin layers comprising at least one layer of catalyst material appropriate for accelerating the growth of carbon nanotubes, wherein the stack comprises the sequence of thin layers deposited in the following order above said at least one electrically conducting face of the substrate:

a/ if appropriate, metal layer made of metal M or layer made of metal alloy based on the metal M or layer made of graphene;

b/ titanium (Ti) layer;

c/ aluminum (Al) layer;

d/ layer of material(s) which are catalysts of the growth of carbon nanotubes.

2. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, being a bulk metal substrate.

3. The bulk metal substrate as claimed in claim 2, the metal of the substrate being chosen from copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), stainless steel, nickel (Ni) or platinum (Pt).

4. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, being a substrate coated with one or more thin electrically conducting layers forming said electrically conducting face.

5. The substrate as claimed in claim 4, the thin electrically conducting layer(s) being chosen from titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum nitride (TaN) or graphene.

6. The substrate as claimed in claim 4, being an electrically insulating substrate, such as a substrate made of silicon (Si) or made of silicon dioxide (SiO₂).

7. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the metal M of the metal layer deposited directly on the electrically conducting face of the substrate being chosen from iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) or palladium (Pd), and also from all the binary, ternary or quaternary alloys between these metals.

8. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the material(s) which is(are) catalyst(s) of the growth of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of the layer of the top of the stack being chosen from iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) or palladium (Pd), and also from all the binary, ternary or quaternary alloys between these metals.

9. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the layer deposited directly on the electrically conducting face of the substrate and the layer of material which is a catalyst of the growth of carbon nanotubes being composed of the same material.

10. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the thickness of the layer deposited directly on the electrically conducting face of the substrate being between 1 and 20 nm.

11. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the thickness of the Ti layer being between 2 and 10 nm.

13. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the thickness of the layer of materials which are catalysts of the growth of carbon nanotubes being between 0.2 and 5 nm.

14. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the stack being as follows:

bulk substrate made of copper or of aluminum/Fe/Ti/Al/Fe, the iron (Fe) layer directly in contact with the bulk substrate having a thickness of between 1 and 10 nm.

15. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the stack being as follows:

bulk substrate made of stainless steel/Ti/Al/Fe.

16. The substrate as claimed claim 1, the stack being as follows:

substrate made of titanium nitride (TiN) or tantalum nitride (TaN) in the form of thin layers/Fe/Ti/Al/Fe, the iron (Fe) layer directly in contact with the substrate having a thickness of between 10 and 20 nm.

17. The substrate as claimed in claim 1, the stack being as follows:

bulk substrate covered with one or more layers made of graphene/Fe/Ti/Al/Fe, the iron (Fe) layer directly in contact with the graphene having a thickness of between 1 and 10 nm.

18. A functional substrate comprising a substrate as claimed in claim 1 coated with a mat of carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

19. The functional substrate as claimed in claim 18, the CNTs density being greater than 10¹²/cm², indeed even 10¹³/cm².

20. A process for the preparation of a functional substrate as claimed in claim 18, according to which the following stages are carried out:

preparation, by vacuum evaporation, of the stack of thin layers, if appropriate with the metal layer made of metal M or layer made of metal alloy based on the metal M or layer made of graphene (2), on the electrically conducting face of the substrate as claimed in claim 1;

growth of mat of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the stack according to a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique, enhanced or not enhanced by plasma and activated or nonactivated by hot wires (Hot Wire CVD or HWCVD).

21. The process as claimed in claim 20, according to which, before carrying out the growth stage, the layer of catalyst materials is oxidized by means of an air plasma.

22. The use of a functional substrate as claimed in claim 18 as element of interconnections in microelectronics, or of electrodes for batteries, such as lithium-sulfur batteries, or of supercapacitors, of interposers used for thermal management in microelectronics, or of heat exchangers.

12. The substrate as claimed in laim 1, the thickness of the Al layer being between 2 and 10 nm.