US Patent 7465605 - CNT functionalization via partial thermal degradation of polymers

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7465605.html

Many electronics companies are focusing on the potential of carbon nanotubes for semiconductor channels or as electrodes. Intel's strategy seems more focused on the thermal properties of CNTs and this patent teaches a functionalization method to ease the incorporation of nanotubes into a polymer composite to be used in heat transport. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method comprising:

growing or depositing a carbon nanotube (NT) array on a substrate;

functionalizing the NT array in situ with a polymer by partial thermal degradation of the polymer to form a NT structure;

characterizing functionalization of the NT structure;

processing the functionalized NT structure according to the characterized functionalization.