Bradford Research Group

This research introduces a novel technique for embedding aligned sheets of two millimeters long, interconnected CNTs into the interlaminar region of composite structures. The potential of these embedded CNT sheets to function as damage detecting and strain sensing…

Carbon coated aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube (AMWCNT/C) sheets were used for studying the controlled radial growth of MWCNTs. Pyrolytic carbon (PyC) was deposited on the surface of nanotubes using multiple cycles of chemical vapor infiltration. Morphological and structural…

Record-breaking ultralow density aluminum oxide structures are prepared using a novel templating technique. The alumina structures are unique in that they are comprised by highly aligned and interconnected nanotubes yielding anisotropic behavior. Large-scale network structures with complex form-factors can…

Stable nanoscale hybrid fabrics containing both polymer nanofibers and separate and distinct carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are highly desirable but very challenging to produce. Here, we report the first instance of such a hybrid fabric, which can be easily tailored to…

In this work, we present large scale, ultralight aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) structures which have densities an order of magnitude lower than CNT arrays, have tunable properties and exhibit resiliency after compression. By stacking aligned sheets of carbon nanotubes and…

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have a unique set of properties that may be useful in the production of next generation structural health monitoring composites. This research introduces a novel CNT based material system for strain and damage sensing applications. An aligned…

Sheets of aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (AMWCNTs) were used to study the structural annealing of pyrolytic carbon (PyC) coatings with various thicknesses on MWCNTs. PyC was deposited using chemical vapor infiltration and the thickness was controlled via the…

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) can be used to coat high aspect ratio and high surface area substrates with conformal and precisely controlled thin films. Vertically aligned arrays of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with lengths up to 1.5 mm…

Aerosol filters, made with conventional micro-fiber fabrics, are designed to efficiently capture small particles from the air. Filters constructed of nano-fiber fabric structures provide even greater filtration efficiency than conventional micro-fiber fabrics due to their higher surface area…

Dr. Philip Bradford was selected as the Outstanding Teacher from the Wilson College of Textiles for the  2013-2014 academic year.

United States Senator, Kay Hagan, visited the Bradford Research Group lab during her recent visit to the NC State Wilson College of Textiles.

A new procedure is described for the fabrication of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) which are decorated, and even completely encapsulated by a dense network of copper nanoparticles. The process involves the conformal deposition of pyrolytic carbon (Py-C),…

Kun Fu’s paper titled “Aligned Carbon Nanotube-Silicon Sheets: A Novel Nano-architecture for Flexible Lithium Ion Battery Electrodes”, recently published in the journal, Advanced Materials, won the NCSU Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF) Best Paper Award for  2013. The NCSU AIF…

In the pursuit of high performance lithium ion batteries (LIBs), significant effort has been expended to explore high performance cathode and anode materials. Silicon has the greatest lithium storage capacity per unit mass, and is therefore one of…