Nanocomposites
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Iron nanoparticle surface treatment of carbon
nanotubes to increase fatigue strength of steel
composites
Gregory Chester, Anna Skinner, Anthony Villa-Garcia, Kirk J. Ziegler & Justin
J. Hill
To cite this article: Gregory Chester, Anna Skinner, Anthony Villa-Garcia, Kirk J. Ziegler
& Justin J. Hill (2021) Iron nanoparticle surface treatment of carbon nanotubes to
increase fatigue strength of steel composites, Nanocomposites, 7:1, 132-140, DOI:
10.1080/20550324.2021.1956730
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NANOCOMPOSITES
2021, VOL. 7, NO. 1, 132–140
https://doi.org/10.1080/20550324.2021.1956730
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Iron nanoparticle surface treatment of carbon nanotubes to increase
fatigue strength of steel composites
Gregory Chestera, Anna Skinnera, Anthony Villa-Garciab, Kirk J. Zieglerb and Justin J. Hilla
a
Mainstream Engineering, Rockledge, FL, USA; bDepartment of Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY
A simple, scalable, and reproducible method is used to decorate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) Received 22 April 2021
with metal nanoparticles (NPs). Decorating CNTs with iron NPs prior to forming steel-based Accepted 13 July 2021
metal matrix composites (MMCs) improves the high-cycle fatigue (HCF) strength of the MMC
KEYWORDS
by more than 350% vs. plain 1084 steel and more than 100% vs. an MMC with untreated
Carbon nanotubes;
CNTs. An inverse correlation between CNT loading and tensile strength was observed. The nanoparticles; nanocompo-
CNT surface treatment uses an organic microenvironment surrounding suspended CNTs and site; fatigue; metal
emulsion chemistry to treat individual CNTs or small bundles. This process can be adapted matrix composite
to work with other metal NPs or CNT types. This work demonstrates the potential for metal-
treated CNTs to further improve the HCF strength of MMCs and paves a pathway toward
additional CNT-reinforced composites.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Introduction major forms of CNTs, single-walled and multi-
Since first being reported in 1991 [1], carbon nano- walled, where single-walled CNTs (SWNTs) consist
tubes (CNTs) have been of great interest to the sci- of a single plane of sp2-bonded carbon atoms rolled
entific community for their incredible mechanical, to form a tubular structure and multi-walled CNTs
electrical, and thermal properties [2]. There are two (MWNTs) consist of multiple planes in a concentric
CONTACT Gregory Chester [email protected] Mainstream Engineering, Rockledge, FL 32955, USA
ß 2021 Mainstream Engineering
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/),
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NANOCOMPOSITES 133
tube arrangement. The sp2 bonding arrangement of
each carbon atom in CNTs offer extremely high
strength and unique elastic properties. The presence
of imperfect, sp3 bonds in MWNTs diminishes these
properties and further, only the outermost wall of
the MWNT is directly involved in carrying mechan-
ical load [3,4]. Density functional theory models
predict maximum tensile strengths for SWNTs as
high as 110 GPa, nearly 50 times greater than spe-
cialty steels, and Young’s Modulus around 1 TPa
[5–8]. Because of their extremely low density, CNTs
have a predicted specific strength that far exceeds
other metallic, ceramic, or organic materials.
Researchers have long sought to harness the
beneficial properties of CNTs in pure-CNT struc-
tures and composite materials. Metal matrix compo-
sites (MMCs) consist of ceramic or organic particles
or fibers dispersed in a metallic binder. Common
additives include ceramics, such as tungsten carbide
and silicon nitride, or organic materials, such as car-
bon fibers [9]. Compared to these additive materials Figure 1. Specific strength of common MMC additive mate-
though, CNTs have the highest specific strength to rials [10].
offer the most significant increase in composite
strength while lowering the overall density of the matrix have shown the ability to improve both axial
composite. A comparison of additive material spe- and bending fatigue strengths in the high cycle
cific strengths is shown in Figure 1, indicating the fatigue regime [22,23]. These improvements were
potential benefits for CNTs as an additive material attributed to the additives ability to stabilize slip
in MMCs. planes thereby limiting deformation and preventing
In applications experiencing repetitive applied cracking. There are two major issues preventing the
stress below the ultimate tensile strength, fatigue full potential of CNTs in reinforcing a MMC: (1)
strength is a more critical parameter to the life poor CNT dispersion and (2) poor adhesion
expectancy of the material. A simple model for the between the CNT and surrounding matrix [24].
fatigue behavior of fiber reinforced materials was Evenly dispersing CNTs in MMCs is a challenge
developed by Drucker et al. in 1966 [11]. Their due to the high van der Waals forces present
model indicated that fiber reinforcement in perfectly between CNTs that tends to cause them to aggregate
plastic materials has little effect on the stress-strain [25–27]. Aggregated CNTs in a MMC then lead to
response. However, in work-hardened materials, an increase in void spaces that can induce disloca-
such as metals, the fiber reinforcement would block tions and lead to increased slip. Improving the
slip between planes and ultimately lead to a signifi- fatigue life of MMCs requires reducing or prevent-
cant increase in the fatigue strength. This behavior ing slip from occurring. To combat these effects,
was confirmed later by other researchers using cer- there are a few methods commonly used to improve
amic particles and metal matrices [12,13]. the dispersion and bonding of CNTs in an MMC:
Many MMCs have been investigated for their mechanical alloying, surface functionalization, and
potential in high fatigue environments [14,15]. chemical treatments [24]. Each method has benefits
These composites are typically aluminum or titan- and detriments that affect the overall performance
ium matrices with ceramic reinforcing particles or of the resulting MMC. This paper presents an alter-
fibers [14,15]. Work by Chawla et al. showed native approach to improving the performance of
increases in fatigue strength with decreasing particle CNT-based MMC’s by distributing metal nanopar-
size and higher loading [16]. There has also been an ticles on the surface of the CNT prior to dispersion
abundance of research into the benefits of CNTs in metal matrix.
addition to the fatigue life polymer [17–20]. While Metal-coated CNTs have been investigated for
simple models have shown the potential for CNTs their ability to improve composite strength, elec-
to improve MMC fatigue strength [21], there has trical, and thermal properties and compared to
been limited research demonstrating their potential uncoated CNTs. By metal coating the CNT prior
to improve the fatigue strength of MMCs. Empirical to composite formation, there is the potential to
measurements of CNTs integrated into the metal improve matrix/CNT interfacial interactions. Work
134 G. CHESTER ET AL.
Figure 2. The CNT coating process takes advantage of the solvent shell around surfactant-suspended CNTs to reduce the
metal salt directly at the CNT surface. (a) The surfactant initially coats the nanotube, providing a hydrophobic region for (b)
the inclusion of Fe(acac)3 in CHCl3. (c) Addition of a reducing agent, such as hydrazine, (d) reduces the precursor to Fe. (e)
Removal of the surfactant leaves a FeCNT composite.
by Nie et al. showed increased thermal conductivity This technique has been shown to be useful for
in Cu composites with the incorporation of tung- coating CNTs with nylon shells that could be dried
sten-coated CNTs whereas there was no improve- and re-dispersed in aqueous solutions without prob-
ment in thermal conductivity on incorporating lematic aggregation. In this work, a highly-scalable,
uncoated CNTs [28]. Traditionally, coating CNTs is solution-based reaction to metal-coat or metal-dec-
performed via vapor phase processes, such as chem- orate suspended CNTs is presented together with its
ical vapor deposition or atomic layer deposition; effect on the high cycle fatigue (HCF) behavior of
however, these processes have limited throughput or CNT reinforced steel composites.
potential for scalability.
Large-batch solution-based coating of CNTs
Materials and methods
requires suspending individual or small bundles to
inhibit aggregation. Most common solvents do not The metal coating process is shown in Figure 2.
provide sufficient solvation forces to suspend indi- Aqueous, suspended SWNTs were purchased from
vidual CNTs [29]. Therefore, CNTs are often dis- Nanolab, Inc. (Waltham, MA). The suspension con-
persed in aqueous suspensions with the aid of sisted of 1.87 g/L SWNT (1.5 nm diameter, 1–5 mm
surfactants [30]. Most aqueous dispersions use length) with 100 g/L SDBS. A representation of a
sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium dodecylben- single CNT suspended in a micelle is shown in
zene sulfonate (SDBS), and sodium cholate, Figure 2(a). Iron acetylacetonate (Sigma-Aldrich,
although other surfactants have been investigated 97%) (Fe(C5H7O2)3; Fe(acac)) was dissolved in
[31–34]. After suspending the CNTs in water, chloroform (Sigma Aldrich, Anhydrous, 99%;) at
immiscible organic solvents can then be added to 53 g/L. Equal volumes of the aqueous CNT suspen-
swell the hydrophobic core of surfactant micelles sion and chloroform mixture were mixed to swell
surrounding carbon nanotubes to yield an emul- the oleophilic region of the surfactant micelle, as
sion-like environment surrounding the CNTs [35]. shown in Figure 2(b). The mixture was then
Recent work has shown that mixing surfactant-sus- allowed to settle for 24 h and phase separated into
pended CNTs with an oil phase creates an emul- the less-dense swelled CNT suspension and the
sion-like phase surrounding the nanotubes as the excess chloroform, which was removed using a pip-
solvent localizes in the oleophilic center of the sur- ette. After separation, aqueous hydrazine (N2H4,
factant micelle [35–37]. By dissolving reactive metal Sigma Aldrich, 35% in H2O) was added to the
salts in the oil phase, it is possible to perform inter- CNT suspension in a 7:1 molar ratio (hydrazine:
facial reactions to reduce the metal, resulting in NPs Fe(acac)), as shown in Figure 2(c). The hydrazine
or uniform coatings on the CNT surface [37]. reduced the Fe(acac) to metallic Fe at the micelle
NANOCOMPOSITES 135
Table 1. Number of control and MMCs prepared and tested
for high-cycle fatigue.
Condition Samples
1084 Steel 5
0.1 vol% FeCNT 26
0.5 vol% FeCNT 22
1.0 vol% FeCNT 11
0.1 vol% CNT (no Fe) 7
0.5 vol% CNT (no Fe) 7
interface, forming Fe NPs on the surface of the
CNT as shown in Figure 2(d). After the Fe(acac)
was completely reduced, an equal volume of metha-
nol was added to the suspension to strip the sur-
factant and collapse the micelle. This step left the
coated CNTs in an aqueous solution, as shown
Figure 2(e). The CNTs were then collected via cen-
trifugation (Hermle Z300, Germany). The suspen-
sion was portioned into 50 mL centrifuge tubes and
spun at 4000 rpm for 60 min. The supernatant was Figure 3. EDX spectrum of dry CNT powders before and
decanted and the wet CNTs were rinsed with 2:1 after coating showing appearance of an Fe peak (6.40,
7.06 keV). Both spectra are normalized to the C
volume ratio of methanol to wet CNTs. The centri- peak (0.277 keV).
fugation was repeated, the supernatant again
removed and the wet CNTs were collected and
Table 2. Atomic concentrations of dry CNT powders before
dried at 100 C. The dried CNT sediment was bro- and after Fe coating.
ken up using an agate mortar and pestle to leave a Without Fe coating With Fe coating
fine FeCNT powder. C 96.8% ± 0.9% 85.6% ± 4.9%
Individual FeCNT MMC sample portions were Fe 1.0% ± 0.3% 11.9% ± 4.3%
Ni 2.2% ± 0.7% 2.4% ± 0.7%
prepared by adding FeCNT powder to powdered,
tough high carbon 1084 steel (USA Knifemaker,
course mesh) at 0.1 vol%, 0.5 vol%, or 1.0 vol% by integration). Additional analysis was performed by
volume, based on an accepted value of 1.4 g/cm3 for Eurofins Materials Science (Sunnyvale, CA) via
SWNTs [38]. The powders were then mixed using a transmission electron microscopy (TEM, FEI Tecnai
Thinky ARE-310 dual axis orbital mixer. Spark TF-20, 200 kV bright-field and high-angle annular
plasma sintering (SPS) was performed by California dark field) with built in energy dispersive X-ray
Nanotechnologies (Cerritos, CA) to rapidly consoli- spectroscopy (EDX, FEI Talos with Bruker
date the powders into solid samples. The SPS was ChemiSTEM, 200 kV excitation) investigate
performed at 80 MPa with a 200 C/min ramp to the coating.
800 C, which was then held constant for 15 min.
California Nanotechnologies then machined the sin-
tered solids using electrical discharge machining to Results and discussion
form dog bone shapes according to the respective
Representative EDX spectra of a bundle of CNTs
ASTM standard for each tensile strength and high-
before and after coating are shown in Figure 3. The
cycle fatigue strength testing. Element Materials
Technology performed tensile testing according to spectra were normalized to the C peak (0.28 keV)
ASTM E8 for tensile strength and ASTM E466 for and show negligible Fe (6.4 keV, 7 keV) in the pow-
high cycle fatigue testing. Tensile tests were per- der prior to coating but a distinct Ni peak
formed at a constant 1 mm/min cross head rate. (7.47 keV), indicating that Ni is a remnant from
Fatigue testing was also performed by Element CNT synthesis. The Al (1.49 keV) and S (2.31 keV)
Materials Technology at 30 Hz with stress limited peaks are from the SEM stub and residual surfac-
set points of 214 MPa and 107 MPa for a total tant, respectively. Elemental analysis, shown in
stress range of 321 MPa. A five million cycle limit Table 2, indicated that Fe content of the powders
was set for the fatigue testing. The number of sam- increased from 1 to 11.9 at% while Ni stayed con-
ples tested at each condition is shown in Table 1. stant at 2.2–2.4 at%. An elemental map of coated
Metal-coated CNT samples were analyzed using CNTs is shown in Figure 4. The map shows a
scanning electron microscopy (AMRAY 1845) and strong presence of Fe distributed throughout the
with EDX (E2V Scientific Instruments silicon drift CNT bundle along with oxygen, which is likely due
detector 874-8381 A, 20 keV excitation, 60 s to oxidation of the Fe particles.
136 G. CHESTER ET AL.
Figure 4. (A) TEM image of a bundle of FeCNTs and EDX elemental maps for (B) C, (C) O, (D) Fe, and (E) Ni. The O signal is a
result of Fe oxidation while Ni corresponds to remaining catalyst particles trapped in the CNTs.
Figure 5. TEM images of CNT bundles (tubular shapes) with Fe decoration on the surfaces (bright spots).
To further explore how the Fe reduction interacts there is a large bulk of particles agglomerated in the
with the CNTs, we performed TEM analysis on area between the CNTs, although at this time it is
smaller CNTs bundles after Fe decoration. This ana- not possible to determine if they formed during the
lysis showed localized Fe NPs decorating the CNTs coating process or the drying process.
at inconsistent intervals, as shown in Figure 5. The Testing with virgin 1084 steel powder, processed
Fe particles appear to be 10–30 nm across with spac- in the same manner as the FeCNT treated parts,
ing from 40–100 nm between particles. Particle showed an average fatigue to failure of 7.2 104
edges are irregular but the particles appear to form cycles, with a low 9 103 standard deviation and no
to the curvature of the CNT. It further appears that samples reaching the 5 107 cycle runout limit, or
NANOCOMPOSITES 137
Figure 8. Tensile strength and Young’s modulus of 1084
Figure 6. Axial fatigue cycles to failure for plain steel and steel samples with 0.00 vol%, 0.10 vol%, 0.50 vol%, and
MMCs with integrated FeCNTs, or uncoated CNTs. The num- 1.0 vol% FeCNTs showing slight decreases in UTS and YM at
ber of samples tested at each condition is shown as the N 0.10 vol% with further reductions with increasing FeCNT
value in each bar. loading. Solid, virgin 1084 steel is generally regarded as hav-
ing a UTS of 820 MPa and a YM of 205 GPa as represented
by the dashed lines on the graph.
untreated CNT loaded samples show an improve-
ment from the plain 1084 steel, there is a drop-off
from the FeCNT composite.
The cycles to failure did not appear to show a
specific trend with regard to the loading of FeCNTs
in 1084 steel and a significant standard deviation
was associated with FeCNT composites. The
0.1 vol%, 0.5 vol% and 1.0 vol% composites showed
standard deviations of 1.8 105, 1.2 105, and
1.8 105, respectively, which is approximately a
50% deviation. This error is extremely high,
although we believe it to be a function of inconsist-
ent FeCNT distribution within the composite.
Further evidence of the potential for FeCNT distri-
Figure 7. Number of samples that did not reach fatigue fail- bution to drive inconsistent fatigue life is seen by
ure after 5 107 cycles for each of the FeCNT and uncoated the fact that more than 40% of all samples reached
CNT samples tested. the 5 107 cycle runout condition, as shown in
Figure 7. This suggests that some of these MMCs
have well-dispersed CNTs and provide exceptional
maximum number of cycles before testing was performance. The increased number of samples to
stopped. Integrating FeCNTs into the 1084 steel led reach the runout condition at 0.10 vol% CNT (no
to as much as a 376% improvement in the average Fe) is likely an artifact from the limited amount of
fatigue life. Samples containing 0.1 vol%, 0.5 vol%, testing which was able to be performed at these
and 1.0 vol% FeCNT had 3.1 105, 2.4 105, and conditions. We feel that if a larger number of sam-
3.4 105 cycles to failure, respectively. The results ples were to be tested, the number of samples to
are shown in Figure 6. The samples produced using reach runout conditions at 0.10 vol% CNT (no Fe)
uncoated CNTs in the composite had lower axial would fall more closely in line with the other mate-
fatigue life, which was commensurate with the plain rials which showed a negligible effect with respect to
1084 steel. These samples had cycles to failure of CNT loading.
8.3 104 and 1.5 105 for 0.1 vol% and 0.5 vol%, It is possible that the samples which reached the
respectively. The 0.1 vol% CNT addition only had runout condition have improved CNT dispersion
one sample not reaching failure (runout) conditions leading to an increase in dislocation pinning. In
and thus we cannot draw significant insight from many cases, particulate reinforcement in MMCs
this singular result; though the data point is pro- refines the grain structure surrounding the
vided in the interest of full disclosure. While the reinforcement and reduces plastic deformation
138 G. CHESTER ET AL.
during strain events; thereby increasing the compos- suspended CNTs. These FeCNTs can then be mixed
ite fatigue strength in comparison to the monopha- with metal powders and sintered to form MMCs.
sic metal [39]. There is evidence that many fatigue Axial fatigue life testing showed up to a 376%
failures initiate at dislocation and/or stress accumu- improvement for composites containing 1.0 vol%
lation sites within the grain structure of the material FeCNTs vs 150% improvement from the addition of
[39–41]. Under cyclic loading and unloading, these untreated CNTs. Adding FeCNTs caused a linear
dislocations and stress accumulations form the basis reduction in the tensile strength of the composite
for crack initiation and propagation [41,42] When up to 66% at 1.0 vol% FeCNTs. A significant
integrating a reinforcing additive into a metal, the amount of variability was found in the fatigue and
risk of vacancies around the reinforcing material tensile strength data likely due to inconsistent mix-
increases and the applied stress further exacerbates ing of the CNTs in the composite. The variability is
the dislocation formation at these sites [43]. further demonstrated by the number of samples
Balancing these dislocation risks with the improved (>40% of samples tested) that reached the runout
grain stabilization seen in reinforced material is crit- condition. Ultimately, this work shows the potential
ical to maximizing the fatigue life of the composite. to further improve the high-cycle fatigue strength of
These results indicate that the NP decoration on the CNT-reinforced MMCs by decorating the surface
CNT surface measurably improves the fatigue with metallic NPs. This decoration technique can be
strength of the FeCNT composite in comparison to extended to other metals by varying the metal salt
the untreated CNT composite. and reductant.
Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and Young’s
modulus (YM) were also tested at 0.1 vol%, 0.5 vol%,
Acknowledgments
and 1.0 vol% FeCNT, along with sintered virgin
1084 steel. Samples were prepped under the same The authors would like to thank Ronald Poveda of Naval
conditions and milled into the necessary dog bone Air Systems Command for funding this work under con-
tract N68335-18-C-0306.
shape via electron discharge machining. Samples of
sintered 1084 steel without any FeCNT or CNT
addition showed a UTS of 508 MPa, approximately Disclosure statement
23% lower than the literature UTS literature value The authors declare no competing interests in relation-
of 820 MPa. The sintered plain steel also showed a ship to this work.
YM of 167 GPa, just 16% lower than the accepted
200 GPa. Adding 0.1 vol%, 0.5 vol%, and 1.0 vol%
Notes on contributors
FeCNTs to the steel matrix reduced the UTS of the
steel by approximately 0%, 27%, and 56% respect- Gregory Chester is a Senior Materials Engineer at
ively. The YM was reduced by 9%, 19%, and 20%, Mainstream Engineering. He earned his B.S. in Chemical
Engineering from Northeastern University and his M.S.
respectively. The results of the tensile testing are
in Materials Science from the University of Florida.
shown in Figure 8. The resulting decrease in UTS is Greg&hx0027;s research focuses on integrating nanomate-
contradictory to similar analysis of CNT reinforced rials into high-performance composites for military and
MMCs which have shown up to 30% increases in industrial applications.
UTS [44–46], though the cause of the observed Anna P. Skinner is currently a Materials Science Engineer
decrease is not understood at this time. There is a at Mainstream Engineering Corporation. She earned an
similar large deviation in tensile strength results as M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and a B.S. in
seen in the fatigue results which may be attributed Physics, both from Virginia Tech. Her research interests
to inconsistent distribution of CNTs throughout since she was an undergraduate researcher (at
Pennsylvania State University and Johns Hopkins
the samples. University Applied Physics Lab) include nanomaterials,
nanocomposites, composite coating materials, self-
assembled nanostructures, and functional materials for a
Conclusions
variety of applications. (She has over 5 years of experience
Integrating CNTs into MMCs is one method of pro- in the field.)
ducing high fatigue life composites. However, trad- Anthony Villa-Garcia was an undergraduate researcher
itionally processed CNTs face issues with working with the University of Florida and Mainstream
aggregation and poor interfacial bonding with the Engineering on a joint project for the application of coat-
metal matrix that inhibits their maximum reinforc- ing carbon nanotubes with metals, specifically single
walled nanotubes (SWNT). He is best known for having
ing efficiency. In this paper, we have demonstrated
conducted iterative, experimentative processing changes
a method based on decorating CNT surfaces with to successfully coat SWNTs with copper, which was con-
metallic NPs by reducing a metal salt in a well-con- firmed with Electron Microscopy (S/TEM). Currently he
trolled water-solvent interface around surfactant- works on product innovation and formulation
NANOCOMPOSITES 139
development at Johnson & Johnson with focus on Hair/ 14. Yau SS, Mayer G. Fatigue of metal matrix compos-
Body care products for brands like OGXTM, AveenoTM, ite materials. Mater Sci Eng. 1986;82:45–57. doi:
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Kirk J. Ziegler is a Professor and Associate Chair for posite. J Compos Mater. 1990;24(6):667–686.
Graduate Studies at the Chemical Engineering 16. Chawla N, Shen YL. Mechanical behavior of particle
Department at the University of Florida. He conducts reinforced metal matrix composites. Adv Eng
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focus on the characterization and manipulation of nano- carbon nanotube alignment on the tensile fatigue
scale interfaces. behavior of nanocomposites. J Compos Mater.
Justin J. Hill holds dual appointments as Materials 2018;52(17):2365–2374.
Science Technology Leader and Engineering Manager at 18. Gaurav A, Singh KK. Fatigue behavior of FRP com-
Mainstream Engineering and as Adjunct Professor of posites and CNT-embedded FRP composites: a
Chemical Engineering at the Florida Institute of review. Polym Compos. 2018;39(6):1785–1808.
Technology. He received a Ph.D. from the University of 19. Hsieh T, Kinloch A, Taylor A, et al. The effect of
Florida for work that advanced the understanding of pho- carbon nanotubes on the fracture toughness and
toelectrochemical energy conversion in interfacial and fatigue performance of a thermosetting epoxy poly-
heterogeneous charge depletion regions of nanostructures. mer. J Mater Sci. 2011;46(23):7525–7535.
His primary research pertains to solid state and electro- 20. Pastukhov LV, Mercx FP, Peijs T, et al. Long-term
chemical energy conversion and storage in nanostruc- performance and durability of polycarbonate/carbon
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22. Kang Z, Wu B, Wang R, et al. Laser-based fabrication
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