Apparatus for the production of boron nitride nanotubes

• US 8,753,578 B1
• Filed: 02/04/2009
• Issued: 06/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jefferson Science Associates, Llc, United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration
• Original Assignee: Jefferson Science Associates, Llc, United States of America as represented by the Administrator of NASA
• Inventors: Smith, Michael W., Jordan, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Tai, Xiuyu
• Application Number:
  US12/322,591
• Time in Patent Office: 1,959 Days
• Field of Search: 422/186, 204/157.41, 423/290, 977/750, 977/752
• US Class Current: 422/186
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/121 Coherent waves, e.g. laser beams lasers per se H01S3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0871 Heating or cooling of the reactor
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0883 Gas-gas
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/5284 Hollow fibers, e.g. nanotubes
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 35/6229 based on boron nitride

Abstract

An apparatus for the large scale production of boron nitride nanotubes comprising; a pressure chamber containing; a continuously fed boron containing target; a source of thermal energy preferably a focused laser beam; a cooled condenser; a source of pressurized nitrogen gas; and a mechanism for extracting boron nitride nanotubes that are condensed on or in the area of the cooled condenser from the pressure chamber.

Claims

1. Apparatus for the large scale production of boron nitride nanotubes from a continuously fed boron containing target rod comprising:

a pressure chamber;

a supply of nitrogen gas into said pressure chamber; and

a chamber exhaust;

said pressure chamber including

the continuously fed boron containing target rod;

a rotating cooled condenser ring;

a laser producing a laser beam;

a lens for focusing said laser beam on said continuously fed boron containing target rod, said boron containing target rod is introduced into said laser beam at a position away from the focal waist of the laser beam and where said laser beam is about the same size as said boron containing target rod, said boron containing target rod being introduced into said laser beam at a position below said rotating cooled condenser ring;

a collection tube for removing boron nitride nanotubes from said rotating condenser ring, said collection tube extending to the outside of said pressure chamber; and

a cooled block that terminates said laser beam by absorbing the full continuous power of said laser beam.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including a valve in said chamber exhaust for regulating said supply of nitrogen gas into said pressure chamber.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including a motor-driven plunger rod for continuously feeding said boron containing target rod.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cooled block is a copper block.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lens is a convex lens.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 including a valve on said collection tube for opening and closing said collection tube.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 including an in-line wire mesh filter installed on said collection tube for collecting boron nitride nanotubes vacuumed from said rotating cooled condenser ring.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said valve in said chamber exhaust is a needle valve.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said laser is selected from the group including CO2 laser, Nd:

YAG laser, and free electron laser.