Nanotechnology

Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics. The result of a nine-year program, the method builds upon tried-and-true processes that chemical firms have used for decades to produce plastics. The research is available online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The new process builds upon the 2003 Rice discovery of a way to dissolve large amounts of pure nanotubes in strong acidic solvents like sulfuric acid. The research team subsequently found that nanotubes in these solutions aligned themselves, like spaghetti in a package, to ... Read Full Story

Researchers at Rice University have announced the discovery of a new breakthrough method for producing carbon nanotubes in bulk fluids. Rice’s new nanotube “stew” could spur the inexpensive mass production of carbon nanotube-based products, much like the plastics industry employed bulk loads of melted polymers as a cheap base for making everything from medical equipment to polyester shirts to plastic bags, and countless other things in between. Rice’s nanotube research was sponsored in party by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy . Aside from their military application, carbon nanotubes have a practically unlimited potential for sustainable civilian products because of their strength, light weight, ... Read Full Story

CHICAGO (Reuters) - In determining the safety of improbably small materials known as nanoparticles, special properties associated with some of the very smallest particles may be the key, scientists said on Sunday. Nanotechnology, the design and manipulation of materials thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair, has been hailed as a way to make strong, lightweight materials, better cosmetics and even tastier food. But scientists are only starting to look at the impact such tiny objects may have. Some studies suggest nano-sized objects may have different effects in the body than larger ones. Traditionally, a particle is deemed nano if ... Read Full Story

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have uncovered the physical mechanism by which arrays of nanoscale (billionths-of-a-meter) pillars can be grown on polymer films with very high precision, in potentially limitless patterns. This nanofluidic process -- developed by Sandra Troian, professor of applied physics, aeronautics, and mechanical engineering at Caltech, and described in a recent article in the journal Physical Review Letters -- could someday replace conventional lithographic patterning techniques now used to build three-dimensional nano- and microscale structures for use in optical, photonic, and biofluidic devices. The fabrication of high-resolution, large-area nanoarrays relies heavily on conventional photolithographic patterning techniques, which involve ... Read Full Story

When people think about building things with carbon nanotubes or with carbon nanotube enhanced materials they need to know that there is not much production of carbon nanotubes. There is less than 1000 tons/year of carbon nanotubes being produced and most of that is in a form that is like an unsorted powder. The material that has been woven into threads or sheets will soon be tens of tons per year and that macro scale material is not as strong at the macroscale. The cost of material increases as you require higher purity or a particular form of it. Even material like Kevlar and ... Read Full Story