Autonomic restoration of electrical conductivity using polymer-stabilized carbon nanotube and graphene microcapsules

Susan A. Odom, Timothy P. Tyler, Mary M. Caruso, Joshua A. Ritchey, Matthew V. Schulmerich, Scott J. Robinson, Rohit Bhargava, Nancy R. Sottos, Scott R. White, Mark C. Hersam, Jeffrey S. Moore

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the use of microcapsules containing suspensions of polymer-stabilized carbon nanotubes and/or graphene flakes for the autonomic restoration of conductivity in fractured gold lines. Multilayered samples were prepared in which microcapsules were embedded in layers of epoxy above and below a glass slide patterned with gold lines. Upon sample fracture, conductivity was lost as a crack formed in the gold line. Simultaneous release of carbon nanotubes and/or graphene suspensions from capsule cores restored conductivity in minutes. We suggest a healing mechanism in which the released carbon nanomaterials bridge gaps in the gold lines.

Original languageEnglish
Article number043106
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume101
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 23 2012

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported as part of the Center for Electrical Energy Storage - Tailored Interfaces, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. (919 DOE ANL 9F-31921 NS) and the National Science Foundation under award number CHE 0957849. S.A.O. thanks the National Science Foundation for an American Competitiveness in Chemistry Fellowship under Award No. 0936888, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We thank Bharat Sankaran for e-beam deposition, Jason Goldman for assistance with photolithography, and Preston May for TGA analysis. We thank Benjamin Blaiszik, Sharlotte Kramer, and Nicolaas Vermeulen for helpful discussions.

Funding

This work was supported as part of the Center for Electrical Energy Storage - Tailored Interfaces, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. (919 DOE ANL 9F-31921 NS) and the National Science Foundation under award number CHE 0957849. S.A.O. thanks the National Science Foundation for an American Competitiveness in Chemistry Fellowship under Award No. 0936888, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We thank Bharat Sankaran for e-beam deposition, Jason Goldman for assistance with photolithography, and Preston May for TGA analysis. We thank Benjamin Blaiszik, Sharlotte Kramer, and Nicolaas Vermeulen for helpful discussions.

FundersFunder number
Office of Basic Energy Sciences919 DOE ANL 9F-31921 NS
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China0936888, CHE 0957849
U.S. Department of Energy Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project Oak Ridge National Laboratory Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center National Natural Science Foundation of China
U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory U.S. Department of Energy National Science Foundation National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
National Science Foundation Office of International Science and Engineering

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Autonomic restoration of electrical conductivity using polymer-stabilized carbon nanotube and graphene microcapsules'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this