Nanoimprinting of nanostructured catalysts

• Main Author: Janaadan Athimulam
• Other Authors: Li Hong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Nanostructured materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/75558
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

One dimensional nanostructured catalyst made of tin and silver has proven to be more effective in the CO2 reduction. The increase in effectiveness is due to the extremely large surface area for catalytic reactions to take place and their curved internal surface that helps to generate a numerous number of highly reactive sites for the CO2 conversion. As such, a lot of time and effort has been spent on discovering possible methodologies for fabricating one-dimensional nano-structures, such as nanowires and nanotubes, in a rapid and efficient manner. This report explores the possibility of using ultrasonic embossing machine as a potential fabrication process for nano-wire production. Ultrasonic embossing is a fabrication technique that uses high frequency ultrasonic energy to replicate mold features on to various substrates. The high frequency ultrasonic energy creates low amplitude mechanical vibrations, which is used to generate friction between the contact area of the mold features and the substrate. The frictional heat melts the substrate, allowing it to conform to the protruding features of the mold, hence forming the required patterns. To achieve a high-quality replication of the mold features onto the substrate, appropriate parameters such as time, amplitude and force. This report will find the best relationship between the ultrasonic embossing parameters to attain the best quality of the nanowires embossed on the substrate. The results show that with the appropriate selection of the parameters, ultrasonic vibration embossing is a viable technique to fabricate nanowires on sliver and tin substrates