Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7481990 - Nanotube segregation via osmylation or ruthenylation

This patent from the State University of New York (SUNY) teaches separation chemistries for sorting nanotubes based on osmium tetroxide or ruthenium tetroxide. Claims 1 and 2 read:

1. A method of aggregating carbon nanotubes, the method comprising:

(a) providing a nanotube dispersion, wherein the nanotube dispersion comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes, osmium tetroxide and a solvent; and

(b) irradiating the nanotube dispersion with ultraviolet light until the carbon nanotubes aggregate, wherein the metallic carbon nanotubes are selectively osmylated.

2. A method of aggregating carbon nanotubes, the method comprising:

(a) providing a nanotube dispersion, wherein the nanotube dispersion comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes, ruthenium tetroxide and a solvent; and

(b) irradiating the nanotube dispersion with ultraviolet light until the carbon nanotubes aggregate, wherein the metallic carbon nanotubes are selectively ruthenylated.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on January 28, 2009 (boomark / email).