Nanotubes by the Kilo

Reinnette Marek writes "Nanotechnology is no longer fiction; it is fact. Rick Smalley, Nobel laureate, has announced the formation of a company to commercialize the production of single wall carbon nanotubes. These nanotubes are 100 times stronger than steel, have the electrical conducticity of copper OR the semiconductivity of silicon, and the thermal conductivity of diamond. The technology promises to revolutionize flat panel displays, conductive polymers, molecular computers, biomedical devices, and ultra high capacity lithium ion batteries. See article in Science, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/290/5490/246b."

Calling himself Rick now, eh?

[Steve S]

When I was at Rice (last year), he called himself "Dick". This is, of course, very funny the first few times you hear it, especially if you are an easily amused undergrad. As I was.

Bad Link

[cajun603]

Bad link in story. Go to the Science Magazine homepage and search for "carbon nanotube smalley" and it will be like the 8th article down. Needs a signin, though...

-cajun

Re:this "nanotech" isn't new at all

[Slothfoundland]

I could show you a nanotube. grab your ankles.

this "nanotech" isn't new at all

[RainMan496]

This sort of technology has been around for at least a year. The only thing that this article says that is really news is the ease in which these nanotubes were produced. This really is very useful, because further research will most likely be able to create nanotubes of uniform diamter. Stuff along the lines of Drexler is a lot farther down the road.

A direct link...

[Squiffy]

Here [sciencemag.org]'s a direct link to the article. The problem with the link above is an extraneous period.

Jumping the gun...

[Mad Hughagi]

Still, Smalley cautions, "this isn't the ultimate" when it comes to making SWNTs. The tubes, he says, wind up as a tangled mat rather than perfectly aligned fibers. They also vary slightly in diameter, a drawback that can create tubes with a range of electronic properties.

As one can see, this new technique is definately a step in the right direction, however, I don't think it should be touted as the beginning of implementation for this technology. The complications that Smalley describes make this production method suitable for producing relatively large amounts of nanotubes, however, they are not of sufficient quality for use in many of their proposed applications.