Abstract
Aqueous multiphase fluids trapped in closed multiwall carbon nanotubes are visualized with high resolution using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hydrothermally synthesized nanotubes have inner diameter of 70 nm and wall thickness 20 nm, on average. The nanotubes are hydrophilic due to oxygen groups attached on their wall surfaces. Segregated liquid inclusions contained in the nanotubes under high pressure can be mobilized by heating. A resistive heating stage is utilized to heat a thin membrane inside a nanotube, causing the membrane to evaporate slowly and eventually pinch off. Focused electron beam heating is employed as a second means of thermal stimulation, which results in localized heating. With the latter method, gas/liquid interface motion is observed inside the thin channel of a carbon nanotube. Experiments like the ones presented herein may help understand the dynamics of fluids contained in nanoscale channels.
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Almila G. Yazicioglu: She is a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the Droplet and Particle Technology Lab. at UIC. She received her M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1999 from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2004 from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She has accepted a faculty position at Middle East Technical University. Her research interests are fluid behavior in nano-enclosures, carbon nanotube synthesis, and treatment of carbon nanotubes with fluids.
Constantine M. Megaridis: He is a Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and a Director of the Droplet and Particle Technology Laboratory at UIC. He received his M.Sc. (1986) degree in Applied Mathematics and his Ph.D. (1987) degree in Engineering from Brown University. His current research interests include nanotechnology, microelectronics packaging and manufacturing, droplet and spray processes, multiphase heat and mass transfer, and experimental diagnostics. He was awarded the 1997 Kenneth T. Whitby Award of the American Association for Aerosol Research, and has been NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow, as well as JSPS Fellow. He is a fellow of ASME and Associate Fellow of AIAA. He has published over 55 archival journal papers and over 100 conference papers.
Yury Gogotsi: He is a Professor of Materials Engineering and a Director of A. J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute. He received his MS (1984) and Ph.D. (1986) degrees from Kiev Polytechnic and the D.Sc. degree from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in 1995. His research is focused on nanotubes, nanostructured carbons, and high-pressure surface science. He co-authored two books, edited five books, obtained 20 patents and authored more than 100 papers. He has received several research awards including the Frantsevich Prize from the Ukrainian Academy of Science, the Somiya Award from IUMRS, the Kuczynski Prize from the International Institute for the Science of Sintering, and the Roland Snow Award from the American Ceramic Society.
Alan Nicholls: He is a Director of Electron Microscopy in the Research Resources Center at UIC. He received his Ph.D. (1984) degree from the University of Birmingham. He spent twelve years with VG Microscopes as their applications scientist, involved in all aspects of the HB series dedicated Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopes, before moving to the RRC in January 1998. His main research interests are in the application of transmission electron microscopy to material problems.
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Yazicioglu, A.G., Megaridis, C.M., Nicholls, A. et al. Electron microscope vualization of muliphase fluids contained in closed carbon nanotubes. J Vis 8, 137–144 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03181656
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03181656