Carbon Nanotubes in Civil Engineering:
Properties and Potential
APPLICATIONS
STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES
MWCNTs with
three walls
Atomic Force Microscope Tip
Superior Properties
 High Young’s modulus
(Y > 1 TPa)
 High tensile strength (~ 60 GPa)
 Remarkable flexibility
 Excellent electricity
 Excellent thermal conductivity
 Metallic or semi-conducting,
depending on chirality
PROJECTS (supported by ARC DP 1095466 and Monash internal grants)
WATER TRANSPORT WITH CARBON
NANOTUBE PUMP
Collaborator: Prof. Quan Wang from University of Manitoba, Canada
Hydrogen Storage
CNT-based Machine
Nanofluidic Devices
DNA-CNT for
Gene Delivery System
CNT-based Composites
Contact: Dr Wenhui Duan Department of Civil Engineering
NANO-KNIFE AND NANO-CUTTING BOARD
Collaborators: Prof. CM Wang from National Uni. of Singapore, Singapore,
Dr. WX Tang from School of Physics, Monash
INTERACTION OF CARBON NANOTUBE
WITH SURFACTANTS (PLAYING WITH
WATER)
Collaborators: Dr Frank Collins, Department of Civil
Engineering, Monash, Prof. XL Zhao, Department of Civil
Engineering, Monash, Prof. CM Wang from National University
of Singapore, Singapore, Prof. Quan Wang from University of
Manitoba, Canada
Transportation of water molecules in a carbon nanotube (CNT) based
on an energy pump concept is investigated by molecular dynamics
simulations. Since it has been unveiled that the van der Waals energy
between the CNT wall and the encapsulated water molecules initiates
a possible motion or transportation of the molecules, the release of
the pre-twisted pump will drive the water molecules and is expected
to fulfil a smooth transportation of the molecules.
MD simulations were used to investigate the mechanical strain energy
release of a bent single wall carbon nanotube and its mechanical
collision with a circular graphene sheet that is fixed at its edges. The
results indicate the promising application of a CNT and a graphene sheet
as a nanoknife and a nanocutting board, respectively, for nanocleavage
processes such as sequence-specific DNA cleaving processes.
The investigation of the interaction between surfactants (SDS)
and a CNT was performed to understand the role of surfactants
in the dispersion of CNTs. The interaction energies of SDS/CNT
system and CNT bundles were calculated using MD simulations
to reveal the minimum fraction of surfactants/CNT to debond
CNT bundles.