Buckypaper is 10 times lighter but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite. Unlike conventional composite materials, though, it conducts electricity like copper or silicon and disperses heat like steel or brass.
Buckypaper is made from tube-shaped carbon molecules, 50,000 times thinner than a human hair, that were first developed in the early 1990s. Buckypaper owes its name to Buckminsterfullerene, or Carbon 60 – a type of carbon molecule whose powerful atomic bonds make it twice as hard as a diamond.
Among the possible uses for buckypaper that are being researched at FAC2T:
- If exposed to an electric charge, buckypaper could be used to illuminate computer and television screens. It would be more energy-efficient, lighter, and would allow for a more uniform level of brightness than current cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) technology.
- As one of the most thermally conductive materials known, buckypaper lends itself to the development of heat sinks that would allow computers and other electronic equipment to disperse heat more efficiently than is currently possible. This, in turn, could lead to even greater advances in electronic miniaturization.
- Because it has an unusually high current-carrying capacity, a film made from buckypaper could be applied to the exteriors of airplanes. Lightning strikes then would flow around the plane and dissipate without causing damage.
- Films also could protect electronic circuits and devices within airplanes from electromagnetic interference, which can damage equipment and alter settings. Similarly, such films could allow military aircraft to shield their electromagnetic “signatures,” which can be detected via radar.
So far, buckypaper can be made at only a fraction of its potential strength, in small quantities and at a high price.
Carbon nanotubes are already beginning to be used to strengthen tennis rackets and bicycles, but in small amounts. The epoxy resins used in those applications are 1 to 5 percent carbon nanotubes, which are added in the form of a fine powder. Buckypaper, which is a thin film rather than a powder, has a much higher nanotube content – about 50 percent.
Watch the video related to carbon nanotubes
CNT has been prepared by fusing carbon rods at high temperature.
Help answer the question about carbon nanotubes
How is wire produced from metalic form carbon nanotubes?New carbon conductive wire is very conductive and strong V.S typical metalic wires, I am wondering what the process is to combine millions of nanotubes together to form a visable conductive wire (about the size of thread)I understand the formation of the nanotube, but not how they are all braided togther to for a visable material. Let me know, thanks
If nanobots were to exist one day, they would not likely “see” in the traditional meaning. That is, they will not have “eyes” that use visible light to see their surroundings. Instead, they will “see” via sensors that sense their environments, such as the pH level, or glucose level in blood…etc, or sense things in very close proximity, e.g. whether they are touching/attached to a red blood cell, white blood cell, or other cell types. In this regard (sensing as “seeing”), there is a lot
of research going on. While they may not be specific to nanotubes, they do pertain to nanotechnology. One example uses nanotechnology circuits and nano-materials to build a sensor to sense pH levels in biological systems.
It is still a laboratory curiosity, only available in small experimental quantities to lab scientists. It is not for sale to the public. There just isn't enough of it to sell.
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I've heard of buckyballs but buckypaper? You've got me on that.
Okay, I looked it up and it sounds cool, but I don't think they've found any way to produce it effectively. How would they grow it?
General questions are very welcome.
My personal opinions to your questions (the future is always hard to predict, so I can only offer you my opinion):
1. Search “Super-thin nanotube body armor promises to stop and deflect bullets”. It is an article on nanotubes for body armor applications. While I may not agree with the entire article, I do think that nanotubes have plenty of applications besides electronics.
and one more ( i couldn’t fit it into the other comment box)
3. Could some solution be mixed into tar, or the blacktop used in roads to make ice and rain “not” stick to it?? therefore eliminating some of the worst driving conditions there are, and as a result less crashes and related deaths occuring.
Instead, an alternative may be to add something on the road and car tires which help them stick to each other, despite rain/snow. Or, to add something to the road which causes water to have a suppressed freezing point when it’s wetting the road. This will lead to less ice and black ice, which could help improve road conditions. However, all this is just a possibility, and may or may not materialize.
-nanotubes are indeed light-weight given its strength
-nanotubes, mixed in with various materials, have been shown to improve the mechanical properties of those various materials
which may help the body heal (though the nanotube itself does not do the healing directly).
3. This is an interesting idea and perhaps something along these lines can be investigated. While it there are already anti-stick nano coatings today (e.g. teflon in your pots/pans, specially treated windshields…), I do not think they will be used on roads. The main reason is that if rain and water don’t stick to the road, it’s likely your car’s tires won’t either, which is very bad.
Thank you for your opinion. While I will not speculate on this possibility, allow me to provide some related facts:
-nanotubes are one of the strongest materials known, if you normalize to it’s nano size (tensile strength is more than steel & diamonds)
-however, nanotubes in bulk, may or may not be super-strong, depending on how it is woven (or not) into a form of fiber
I'm not sure about the limits of Buckypaper specifically, but nanotechnology looks like leading us to material strengths far above our current norms.
These could lead to extremely large sheets, as well as very strong cables and other shapes. The prospect of space elevators and solar sails may yet become reality!
Thus, it is not unreasonable to speculate that nanotubes could be used in body armor to provide better protection due to the nanotube’s great mechanical properties (I don’t know about “deflect” though).
2. Nanotubes current have no known “healing” effects that I am aware of. Thus, I personally find it unlikely that nanotubes will be used as a medical “healer”. However, nanotube may one day be used as electrical components (circuits/batteries/sensors) in medical devices,