Honda's discovery of carbon nanotubes could be a revolutionary breakthrough

In the ever-evolving world of automobiles, technological innovations are as important – maybe even more – as putting together a powerful engine. There’s always that thin line between being an innovator and being a follower and if you ask all car manufacturers all over the world, all of them would prefer being the former than the latter.

For the past couple of months, Honda, together with scientists from Purdue University, may have discovered the next breakthrough in vehicular development after discovering that microscopic carbon nanotubes just might become a quicker and more efficient way of distributing electricity in cars. In addition to that, the newly-discovered nanotubes are also being touted as a better – lighter yet stronger - material than carbon fiber.

The discovery of carbon nanotubes has the capacity to revolutionize the way cars are going to be produced in the future, especially when it comes to the production of batteries, cables, fuel cells, and solar cells. But what’s more important than all of that is the fact that this new breakthrough can also become beneficial on other industries like robotics, and supercapacitors.

According to Dr. Hideaki Tsuru, the project director of the Honda Research Institute USA, "Our goal is not only the creation of new and better technologies and products, but to fulfill Honda’s commitment to environment sustainability.”

Like we said, sometimes there are scientific discoveries that go beyond the realm of the industry it is in and this is one of those times. Whether or not the discovery of carbon nanotubes results in more efficient cars remains to be seen, but it does open a world of other possibilities not just in the auto industry, but in others as well.

Press release after the jump.

Honda's discovery of carbon nanotubes could be a revolutionary breakthrough originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 12 October 2009 13:09 EST.

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