The name is absent

Contents

Acknowledgments.....................................................................................................iii

Contents...................................................................................................................iv

List of Figures............................................................................................................vi

List OfTabIes............................................................................................................viii

Introduction...............................................................................................................1

1.1. Introduction to Carbon Nanotubes......................................................................1

1.2. Techniques in Carbon Nanotube Synthesis.........................................................3

1.2.1. Early Carbon Nanotube Synthesis Methods.................................................3

1.2.2. Chemical Vapor Deposition to Produce Aligned CNTs.................................5

1.3. Carbon Nanotubes for Composite Applications..................................................7

1.3.1. Challenges in Preparing Randomly-Aligned Nanocomposites......................7

1.3.2. Self-Assembly of CNTs to Achieve Composite Homogeneity.......................9

1.4. Research Motivations.........................................................................................10

Synthesizing Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays for Composite Applications...............12

2.1. Pre-Deposited Catalyst CVD...............................................................................13

2.1.1. Introduction to Pre-Deposited CVD Growth...............................................13

2.1.2. Construction of a Water-Assisted A-CNT Growth Furnace.........................14

2.1.3. A-CNTs Grown Via Pre-Deposited Catalyst CVD.........................................19

2.2. Vapor-Phase CVD...............................................................................................22

2.2.1. Introduction to Vapor-Phase CVD Growth.................................................22

2.2.2. Construction of a Vapor-Phase A-CNT Growth Furnace.............................23

2.2.3. A-CNTs Grown via Vapor-Phase CVD..........................................................29

2.3. Comparison of A-CNTs for Infiltrated Composite Applications.........................33

Vertically-Aligned Carbon Nanotube/ Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Composites................35

3.1. Introduction to Poly(dimethylsiloxane).............................................................36

3.2. Composite Preparation......................................................................................37

3.2.1. Results from Pre-Deposited Catalyst A-CNT Infiltration.............................38

3.2.2. Results from Vapor-Phase A-CNT Infiltration.............................................39