Angel Marti
Rice University, TX·Chemistry
Boron-nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are tiny tubes built like carbon nanotubes, but made of alternating boron and nitrogen atoms instead of carbon. They conduct heat about as well as copper, yet they block electricity.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
Engineering
- Topics
boron nitride nanotubes
carbon nanotubes
surface functionalization
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Understand and control how pnictogen oxides, oxides of nitrogen-group elements, react with chemically inert boron-nitride nanotubes to attach new chemical groups to the tube surface.
- Develop a universal surface-functionalization method for BNNTs based on first fluorinating the tubes, so a range of chemical groups can then be added.
- Study how surfactant wrapping tunes BNNT dispersion and liquid crystal formation, using cryo-EM and cryo-SEM imaging of frozen samples in collaboration with the Talmon group.
More about the research
They are also very stiff and resist heat and chemicals. These traits make them promising for aerospace materials, heat- and chemical-resistant composites, radiation shielding, and electrical insulators that shed heat. However, the same chemical stability makes their surfaces hard to modify, which limits how well they can be processed and used. This project, a collaboration between Rice University and the Technion in Israel, develops chemical ways to tune BNNT surfaces and properties.
Why it matters
Chemical tools that make inert BNNTs easier to modify and process could help engineers build lighter, tougher materials. Potential uses include aerospace parts, heat- and chemical-resistant composites, radiation shielding, and insulators that conduct heat well. Learning how these tubes disperse and self-organize may also speed their use as building blocks for new materials.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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Marina Tsianou
University at Buffalo, NY·Chemistry
Determine how different PFAS molecules compete and self-assemble in water when mixed with one another and with ordinary hydrocarbon surfactants, combining computational modeling with experiments.
The school
Rice University: 24 labs on PI Pages, $278M a year on research, 267 research doctorates a year.
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