Radio Frequency Heating of Carbon-based Nanomaterial Films
Abstract
Electromagnetic (EM) energy-induced heating of carbon-based materials has
opened up novel routes in material synthesis and processing applications. Three dimensional (3D) printed parts with strengths similar to bulk polymers are now possible due to rapid locally-induced radio frequency (RF) heating and welding of 3D printed interfaces. Automotive and aerospace assembly lines can be improved and sped up due to
RF-induced curing to green strength of adhesives loaded with carbon nanomaterials. The
flexibility in RF applicator designs to induce heating in a non-contact manner has also
extended applications to synthesis of industrially-important ceramics such as silicon
carbide. The applicable areas are wide-ranging and continue to increase; however, the
fundamental understanding of the phenomenon is still limited and needs to be explored to
further develop and improve the efficiency of the new processes.
It is known that electrical conductivity is required for RF heating of carbon-based
materials. However, it is not well understood how RF heating rates vary with conductivity
and if the pattern is generalizable for all types of RF susceptor-loaded structures. The goal
of this work is to contribute to the fundamental understanding of the RF heating
phenomenon and also extend its applications to other relevant areas.
In this work, we first show that the RF heating of semiconducting single-walled
carbon nanotubes is significantly higher than that of the metallic single-walled carbon
nanotubes primarily due to differences in electrical conductivity. Next, we confirm using
experiments and simulation that the RF heating is non-monotonically related with the
electrical conductivity; the trend is similar at high frequencies and is universal for a range of carbon-based nanomaterials and their composites. We also demonstrate that RF heating
response of carbon-based nanomaterials can be used to detect faults in printed carbon
nanotube circuits which allows for rapid screening of nanomaterial-based electronics.
Lastly, we show techniques to generate thermal patterns using direct current (DC) and
alternating current (AC)-based heating of carbon
Citation
Anas, Muhammad (2021). Radio Frequency Heating of Carbon-based Nanomaterial Films. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /195263.