Overview of Engineering Carbon Nanomaterials Such As Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), Carbon Nanofibers (CNFs), Graphene and Nanodiamonds and Other Carbon Allotropes inside Porous Anodic Alumina (PAA) Templates

Abstract

The fabrication and design of carbon-based hierarchical structures with tailored nano-architectures have attracted the enormous attention of the materials science community due to their exceptional chemical and physical properties. The collective control of nano-objects, in terms of their dimensionality, orientation and size, is of paramount importance to expand the implementation of carbon nanomaterials across a large variety of applications. In this context, porous anodic alumina (PAA) has become an attractive template where the pore morphologies can be straightforwardly modulated. The synthesis of diverse carbon nanomaterials can be performed using PAA templates, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and nanodiamonds, or can act as support for other carbon allotropes such as graphene and other carbon nanoforms. However, the successful growth of carbon nanomaterials within ordered PAA templates typically requires a series of stages involving the template fabrication, nanostructure growth and finally an etching or electrode metallization steps, which all encounter different challenges towards a nanodevice fabrication. The present review article describes the advantages and challenges associated with the fabrication of carbon materials in PAA based materials and aims to give a renewed momentum to this topic within the materials science community by providing an exhaustive overview of the current synthesis approaches and the most relevant applications based on PAA/Carbon nanostructures materials. Finally, the perspective and opportunities in the field are presented.

State-of-the-art of electrospun nanocomposite nanofibers and membranes with carbon nanoparticles—Prevailing progressions

“…The carbon nano-additives have been widely explored to fill the polymer nanofibers [36] . Due to high surface area and physical properties, the carbon nanoparticle based nanofibers have important technological applications [37] . In this context, manufacturing strategies have been found important to fabricate the high performance nanofibers [38] .…”

Electrospinning Processing of Polymer/Nanocarbon Nanocomposite Nanofibers—Design, Features, and Technical Compliances

“…Specifically, fullerene, graphene, and a carbon nanotube possess high surface area, structural, and physical features to enhance the final nanocomposite nanofiber topographies [13]. The resulting carbon nanoparticle-filled nanofibers revealed potential for wide-ranging fields from the energy or electronics to the medical sectors [35]. Here, the performance and properties of these nanofiber nanostructures directly rely on the manufacturing technique employed [36].…”