High Aspect Ratio, Carbon Nanotube Membranes Decorated with Pt Nanoparticle Urchins for Micro Underwater Vehicle Propulsion via H2O2 Decomposition

Keywords

underwater propulsion, hydrogen peroxide, carbon nanotube, platinum, nanoparticle, microchannel, thrust

Abstract

The utility of unmanned Micro Underwater Vehicles (MUVs) is paramount for exploring confined spaces, but their spatial agility is often impaired when maneuvers require burstpropulsion. Herein we develop high-aspect ratio (150:1), multi-walled carbon nanotube microarray membranes (CNT-MMs) for propulsive, MUV thrust generation by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The CNT-MMs are grown via chemical vapor deposition with diamond shaped pores (nominal diagonal dimensions of 4.5 × 9.0 [μm]) and subsequently decorated with urchin-like, platinum (Pt) nanoparticles via a facile, electroless, chemical deposition process. The Pt-CNT-MMs display robust, high catalytic ability with an effective activation energy of 26.96 [kJ mol-1] capable of producing a thrust of 0.209 ± 0.049 [N] from 50% [w/w] H2O2 decomposition within a compact reaction chamber of eight Pt-CNT-MMs in series.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.5b02124

Original Publication Citation

Kevin M. Marr, Bolin Chen, Eric J. Mootz, Jason Geder, Marius Pruessner, Brian J. Melde, Richard R. Vanfleet, Igor. L. Medintz, Brian D. Iverson, and Jonathan C. Claussen. "High Aspect Ratio Carbon Nanotube Membranes Decorated with Pt Nanoparticle Urchins for Micro Underwater Vehicle Propulsion via H2O2 Decomposition". ACS Nano, 2015, 9 (8), pp 7791-7803. June 24, 2015 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5b02124

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2015

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/3483

Publisher

ACS Nano

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Mechanical Engineering

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