Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7429369 - Manufacture of silicon nanoparticle nanotubes

This patent from the University of Illinois describes a manufacturing procedure for a new type of nanotube formed from individual silicon nanoparticles which may have some benefits to biomedical applications and flexible electronics. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for forming silicon nanoparticle nanotubes, the method comprising steps of:

disposing a conductive or semiconductive substrate in a solution including a dispersion of silicon nanoparticles, said disposing being done in a manner to avoid a meniscus being formed on a surface of the substrate; disposing a thick electrode opposite the surface of the substrate;

applying electrical potential between the substrate and the thick electrode; maintaining the electrical potential between the substrate and the thick electrode to form a thin film of silicon nanoparticles on the substrate; and

drying the thin film to induce it to roll into a silicon nanoparticle nanotube;

wherein the area and thickness of the thin film is such that a diameter of the silicon nanoparticle nanotube is at least about 100 times greater than the thickness of the thin film.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on September 30, 2008 (boomark / email).