![]() ![]() I am trying to develop techniques for bringing particles together in more efficient ways, or looking at new emerging properties of the materials depending on how you bring the carbon nanotubes together." "Unfortunately, when you bring them together in large numbers, the figures of merit for their properties are often disappointing compared with what you get from an individual carbon nanotube. And electron microscopy is making it possible to look at the carbon nanotubes while they are being formed, which is helping improved understanding of the process."ĭr De Volder himself is working on the challenge of mass producing devices featuring hundreds to thousands of nanotubes. "One of the interesting things happening is the improvement in computer simulations of how carbon nanotubes are synthesised, which will hopefully enable us to tweak the fabrication process. At this moment, we have little ability to synthesise carbon nanotubes with specific types of chirality and it is this that determines the semiconducting versus conducting properties of the carbon nanotubes. "Particularly in high end targets, like the search for better transistors, the exact morphology of the nanotube and the orientation of the graphene lattice with respect to the tube axis – referred to as its chirality – is really important. "There are a number of obstacles which we haven't solved yet," Dr De Volder says. But while carbon nanotubes are being used in practical applications, it doesn't imply their more widespread use will not be problem free. Sports manufacturers use them in tennis and badminton rackets, and bicycle frames. The nanotubes create networks within the composite material for instance to increase stiffness and material damping. The properties of carbon nanotubes make them ideal for enhancing different kinds of structures – for example, sports equipment, body armour, vehicles, etc., where they are being widely used. Worldwide research efforts in this field have fostered the development of commercial activities in companies such as Showa Denko (Batteries, Japan), and FastCAP (Supercaps, US). The huge surface area of carbon nanotubes is also being exploited when they are used as the electrodes in batteries and capacitors to provide more current and better electrical and mechanical stability than other materials. It is suitable for use in homes, offices, schools, clinics, and other commercial environments, Seldon says. The filter removes pathogens and contaminants such as viruses, bacteria, cysts and spores, delivering water that meets or exceeds the USEPA Drinking Water Standard. The company says its system delivers drinking water without the use of chemicals, heat, or power: vital for use in developing countries where it is most needed. ![]() US company Seldon Technologies has developed the MineralWater System using its “Nanomesh Purification Technology” – a carbon nanotube filtration system – to do just that. ![]() Take water purifiers, for example, the size, surface area and adsorption properties of carbon nanotubes make them an ideal membrane for filtering toxic chemicals, dissolved salts and biological contaminants from water. Since 2006, worldwide carbon nanotube production capacity has increased at least tenfold."ĭr De Volder’s recent science review paper of commercially available carbon nanotube applications gives a flavour of just how widespread a real impact the technology is starting to make. "However, carbon nanotube related commercial activity has grown most substantially during the past decade. "The beginning of widespread carbon nanotube research was preceded in the 1990s by the first scientific report of CNTs, although hollow carbon nanofilaments were reported as early as the 1950s," Dr De Volder says. But it's a level of production that has taken around 20 years to achieve. The success of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is proved by a surprising statistic: worldwide commercial production capacity presently exceeds several thousand tons per year, according to Dr Michael De Volder, recently appointed lecturer at the Department of Engineering's Institute for Manufacturing. Dr Michael De Volderīut, like other 'great technologies of the the future', are we over hyping nanotubes? Are they near passing the real test – that of widespread practical use? The answer is a qualified yes. Since 2006, worldwide carbon nanotube production capacity has increased at least tenfold. ![]()
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