@inbook{fb30f7fd3d6e4b0181450ae28dab4d29,
title = "Nanotubes and nano-coral by the fibre template method",
abstract = "Tubes by fibre templates (TUFT) is a process that is used to fabricate tubular materials. Tube dimension depend on the template fibre size and coating thickness, while tube regularity depend on the coating and template removal methods. We have studied preparation of tubes using electrospun fibres of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and polyamide-66 (PA) as templates, atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 as coating, and dissolution as well as the heat treatment in template removal. Smooth tubes were obtained is dissolution of PVP and PA templates and when heat treatment was used as template removal. Dissolution of PVA, on the other hand, produced novel nanostructured and high surface area coral-like material. This material, which we have called {"}nano-coral{"}, has a relatively high surface area due to the interconnected cavities formed after the removal of the template. Nanotubular materials has potential in catalysts carriers, filtration and other application fields",
author = "Pirjo Heikkil{\"a} and Terhi Hirvikorpi and Jenni Siev{\"a}nen and Ali Harlin and Mika V{\"a}h{\"a}-Nissi and Heidi Hild{\'e}n",
year = "2012",
language = "English",
isbn = "978-951-38-7857-",
series = "VTT Research Highlights",
publisher = "VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland",
number = "2",
pages = "69--74",
booktitle = "Research highlights in industrial biomaterials",
address = "Finland",
}