Science & Technology:

More on carbon nanotubes

In a continuation of my recent post on carbon nanotubes:

Nanotubes show their strength in numbers
Super-strong sheets could be used in future screens and surfaces

By Kathleen Wren
Science
Updated: 4:07 p.m. ET Aug. 18, 2005

WASHINGTON - Carbon nanotubes, the wunderkind molecules of the nanoworld, are finally showing strength in numbers. Researchers have now made large nanotube sheets that have many of the same star qualities as the prima donna-like single molecules, bringing the promises of nanotechnology a step closer to reality.

The flexible, transparent sheets can conduct electricity and emit light or heat when a voltage is applied, leading their creators to propose that our car windows and the canopies of military aircraft could contain nearly invisible antennae, electrical heaters for defrost, or informative optical displays.

These sheets, which are presently several meters long but could potentially be much larger, might also be useful in everything from flexible computer screens that could be rolled into a sack, to light bulb-like devices providing uniform lighting, to strong sails that could be propelled in space by sunlight.

"When you have a remarkable material, it's easy to make advances in terms of applications," said Ray Baughman of the University of Texas, Dallas, who led the research team that made the nanotube sheets. The scientists report their findings in the 19 August issue of the journal Science, published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

We are leaving the research phase with carbon nanotubes into the development phase. Many new technologies will be appearing in the next decade that use this molecule set.

You thought the progress in microelectronics and communications in the past few decades were revolutionary. The use of these carbon-nanotube molecules has the potential to be even larger.

I am not prone to hyperbole, so take this as you will.

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