A method to fabricate one dimensional nanoscale composite based on coating of carbon nanotube with metal is proposed and demonstrated in this letter. Carbon nanotubes have been coated with a layer of nickel by electroless plating. It was found that the nickel coating had a tendency to form as nanoparticles on the surface of carbon nanotube and on the net of carbon nanotubes. High density active sites and low deposition rate were found to be critical for getting better coating.
Polymers have been widely used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Polymers are being promoted rapidly due to their ease of manufacturing and improved material properties. Research on polymer processing technology should be paid more attention due to the increasing demand for polymer applications. Selective laser sintering (SLS), which is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power source to sinter powdered materials (typical nylon or polyamide), is one of the critical processing technologies of polymer. It irradiates the laser beam automatically at points in space defined by a computer-aided design 3D model to bind the material together to create a designed 3D solid structure. SLS has many advantages, such as no support structures and excellent mechanical properties resembling injection moulded parts compared with other AM methods. However, the ability of SLS to process polymers is still affected by some defects, such as the porous structure and limited available types of SLS polymers. Therefore, this article reviews the current state-of-the-art SLS of polymers, including the fundamental principles in this technique, the SLS developments of typical polymers, the essential process parameters in SLS. Furthermore, the applications of SLS are focused, and the conclusions and perspectives are discussed.
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