Systems analysis of carbon nanotubes: opportunities and challenges for space applications

Abstract

Recent availability of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in quantities and formats amenable to producing macroscale components invites consideration of these materials in space applications where their attractive properties can enable the realization of bold concepts for affordable space exploration. The challenge is to identify relevant systems and quantify the benefits at the systems level. Before significant investment or adoption of CNTs for large aerospace systems can be justified, there must be a plausible path to attain the perceived systems level benefits. This challenging step requires a close collaboration among experts on CNTs and aerospace system communities. This paper provides an overview of a few relevant potential CNTs applications for space systems and the gap that must be overcome for deployment of CNTs. It also provides a simple engineering-level systems analysis approach to quantify the benefits of using CNTs over state of the art material solutions.

Advances in Polyimide‐Based Materials for Space Applications

“…Recent advances in the development of nanomaterials with exceptional mechanical properties, such as CNTs and 2D‐ and 3D‐graphene, have led to substantial attempts to use them as reinforcements in polymer matrices . Besides excellent mechanical properties, these materials provide electrical conductivity, which is required in order to prevent ESD in polar LEO and GEO orbits.…”

“…Although CNTs were introduced over two decades ago, their application in space missions remains a challenge. CNT potential for space systems and the technological gap that must be overcome for their application have been recently reviewed . CNTs have been used for ESD protection in the form of an electrically conductive CNT‐based sheet material (rather than as additive material) incorporated into NASA's Juno spacecraft…”

Toward ultralight high-strength structural materials via collapsed carbon nanotube bonding

“…Systems-level analyses have shown that materials with higher ratios of strength to mass than are currently available are required to enable implementation of more ambitious concepts for future missions. 1 The sp 2 bonded form of carbon found in graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) results in an in-plane Young's modulus of 1,000 GPa and a tensile strength above 100 GPa for a defect free form. 2,3 These extremely high nanoscale tensile properties have led to significant interest in their use for structural materials.…”

Graphene Quantum Dots and Enzyme-Coupled Biosensor for Highly Sensitive Determination of Hydrogen Peroxide and Glucose

“…When the size of quantum is <100 nm, the GQDs showed superior properties due to its specific nanometer size effect and specific shape [ 27 , 28 ]. Compared with common carbon dots [ 29 ], GQDs has drawn more and more attention these years, owing to its extraordinary properties and functions, including low toxicity [ 30 ], high fluorescence activity [ 31 ], high solubility [ 32 ], unique biocompatibility [ 33 ], and long-term resistance to photo-bleaching as well as the feasibility of functionalization at their edges [ 22 , 34 ]. Therefore, many experimental works, including Pb [ 35 ], Cu [ 36 ], Hg [ 37 ], Mn [ 38 ], Ag [ 39 ], Ce [ 40 ], DHB [ 41 ], glucose [ 42 ], and telomere DNA [ 43 ] detection are based on its ultrahigh sensitivity and unique electronic and chemical properties.…”