Nanotubes
Latest
New carbon nanotube aerogel is now the world's lightest solid material
Frozen smoke (read: aerogel) -- not to be confused with the stuff your Grandma uses to flavor her turkey -- is the world's lightest solid material, and it just keeps getting lighter. Researchers at the University of Central Florida have created a new form of the super material, known as multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) aerogel, that has a density of just four milligrams per cubic centimeter and can be used in sensors to detect pollutants and toxic substances, chemical reactors, and electronic components. Aerogels, which are known as the world's most effective insulators, have been around since the early 20th century, but most of these are fabricated from silicon dioxide. In order to produce the new aerogel, researchers removed the liquid from a "wet gel of well-dispersed pristine MWCNTs," creating a honeycomb structure with walls just 100-nanometers thick. The resulting material is an impressive and resilient electrical conductor that looks and acts less like frozen smoke and more like a burnt marshmallow. And now, you know. Check out the coverage link below for video.
World's smallest battery uses a single nanowire, plant-eating virus could improve Li-ion cells tenfold
When it comes to building better batteries, building electrodes with greater surface area is key, and scientists are looking to exotic methods to attract the tiny particles they need. We've already seen graphene and carbon nanotubes soak up those electrons, but the University of Maryland has another idea -- they're using the Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) to generate usable patterns of nanorods on the surface of existing metal electrodes. By simply modifying the germ and letting it do its thing, then coating the surface with a conductive film, they're generating ten times the energy capacity of a standard lithium-ion battery while simultaneously rendering the nasty vegetarian bug inert. Meanwhile, the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at Sandia Labs was more curious how these tiny charges actually work without confusing the forest for the trees, so to speak, so a team of scientists set about constructing the world's smallest battery. Using a single tin dioxide nanowire as anode, a chunk of lithium cobalt dioxide as cathode, and piping some liquid electrolyte in between, they took a microscopic video of the charging process. See it in all its grey, goopy glory right after the break.
EcoloCap claims nanotube-infused Lithium-X battery has 99 percent efficiency, fuels our long-range EV dreams
The more we hear about the next generation of rechargeable batteries, the more nanotechnology seems integral to the case, as scientists work to improve the capacity of electrodes in the popular Lithium-ion chemical battery structure. Silicon nanowires are an exciting future possibility, and one current solution uses nano-structures made of iron phosphate. But the firm we're highlighting today, EcoloCap, has decided to revisit our versatile friend: the carbon nanotube. The company has just spread the word that its Nano Lithium X battery can generate a minimum of 200 amp-hours with a single cell (a Tesla requires 6,831 cells) at half the cost of a traditional Li-ion and with greater than 99 percent efficiency. Truth be told, we don't know if the tech actually exists, and we'd never even heard of the company before today -- but if this solution does materialize with the voltage to match its longevity, it'll bring a badly needed eco-boost of competition to a market with far too few players.
Stanford University shows that clothes make good batteries too
Remember when Stanford University turned mere paper into a proper battery? That was just the beginning. The same team, led by Yi Cui in the Department of Engineering, now wants your pants to be an electrical storage device. They've managed to dye fabric with carbon nanotube ink, still allowing the cloth to stretch and move like normal but also giving it the supernatural ability to hold a charge. Imagine the day when hipster jeans charge Droids, when booty pants juice up iPhones, and when your wristwatch is powered by the very band you use to strap it to your person -- assuming, of course, the whole "asbestos-like effects" thing turns out to be false.
Quantum batteries are theoretically awesome, practically non-existent
Today's dose of overly ambitious tech research comes from the physics lab over at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in a proposal titled "Digital quantum batteries: Energy and information storage in nano vacuum tube arrays." It's like a who's who of undelivered promises got together and united to form one giant and impossible dream, but it's one we'd prefer to believe in regardless. Aiming to improve battery performance by "orders of magnitude," the project's fundamental premise is that when capacitors -- and we're talking billions of them -- are taken to a small enough scale and packed to within 10nm of one another, quantum effects act to prevent energy loss. The projected result is a wonderful world of rapid recharges and storage of up to ten times the energy current lithium-ion packs can hold, as well as the potential for data retention. The only problem? It would take a year just to build a prototype, meaning we can expect market availability somewhere between a score from now and just prior to the underworld morphing into an ice rink.
Stanford wants to roll its own paper batteries
It was only a couple of months ago that MIT was wooing us with the energy-preserving properties of carbon nanotubes, and in a classic act of oneupmanship Stanford has now come out and demonstrated paper batteries, which work thanks to a carbon nanotube and silver nanowire "ink." We've seen this idea before, but the ability to just douse a sheet of paper in the proper magical goo and make a battery out of it is as new as it is mindblowing. Battery weight can, as a result, be reduced by 20 percent, and the fast energy discharge of this technology lends itself to utilization in electric vehicles. The video after the break should enlighten and thrill you in equal measures.
Carbon nanotubes find yet another purpose, could star in ultra-reliable batteries
Carbon nanotubes are kind of like peanuts. They both seem pretty simple at first glance, but with a little work, you can make pretty much anything out of 'em. Take this case, for example, as MIT boffins have discovered that by forming the tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon into minuscule springs, they could be "capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as lithium-ion batteries." The real kicker is exactly how they'd do it -- "more durably and reliably." Essentially, these newfangled cells could be left alone for years on end without losing their charge, and unlike conventional batteries, these wouldn't suffer from performance degradation when exposed to temperature extremes. Of course, anything as pie-in-the-sky as this is probably at least a decade or so out from Walmart shelves, but considering that the group responsible has already filed a patent, we'd say they're pretty confident in the possibilities.[Via Physorg]
New material could make robot muscles better, faster, stronger
There's already been countless advances in the always exciting field of robot muscles, but a team of researchers from the University of Texas have now made what appears to be a considerable leap forward, which they say could allow for "performance characteristics that have not previously been obtained." The key to that is an entirely new material comprised of ribbons of tangled nanotubes, which can expand its width by 220% when a voltage is applied and return to its original shape in just milliseconds when the voltage is removed. What's more, the material is not only "stronger than steel and stiffer than diamond," but it's able to withstand an extreme range of temperatures from -196 °C to 1538 °C, which could allow robots equipped with the muscles to operate with ease in a wide variety of off-world colonies, er, "harsh environments." Head on past the break for a demonstration of the material in its non-robot form.[Image courtesy NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
Carbon nanotubes could be used in film-like flat speakers
Seriously, is there anything carbon nanotubes can't do? We've got shock absorbers, flexible displays, atypically small eating utensils and now, film-like speakers. For times when NXT flat drivers simply aren't thin enough, a team of Chinese researchers have reportedly found a way to create sound from a thin sheet of carbon nanotubes. The film, which could be stretched and placed on PMPs, HDTVs or even clothing, can generate sound when "zapped with a varying electric current." Great, the perfect recipe for a new wave of Milli Vanilli copycats. A video of the tech can be seen after the jump.[Via Physorg]
Shock-absorbing carbon springs to protect falling gizmos
The Tigers down at Clemson University are doing more than deciding whether an all-purple uniform really sends a sense of fear to the opponent, as they're also crafting shock-absorbing carbon springs which could theoretically protect gadgets when they crash to the ground. In working with researchers at UC San Diego, the crew has determined that layers of tiny coiled carbon nanotubes can act as "extremely resilient shock absorbers." The team envisions their discovery finding its way into body armor, car bumpers, bushings and even in shoe soles, but we're hoping that cellphones and PMPs get lined with this stuff to protect from those butter-finger moments. [Via Physorg]
Invisible nanotubes could support human weight
Nanotubes are the stuff invisible dreams are made of, producing batteries, ramen, tiny chips, and in this case, invisible tightropes. Nicola Pugno of the Polytechnic of Turin in Italy has figured out a way to spread invisible nanotubes 5 micrometers apart that he says could support an entire human. The resulting "cable" would measure 1 centimeter in diameter and weigh just 10 milligrams per kilometer. So, what would we do with this ultra-strong, invisible cable? Support things that weigh about as much as humans do, naturally. Really, though, this means that super-strong, super-small cables are coming, and architecture could be changed forever. Other uses abound, for sure, but we'll leave that speculation to the science guys.[Via NewScientistTech]
Carbon nanotubes causing asbestos-like effects in lab mice
The scientific and engineering possibilities of carbon nanotubes are hard to overestimate, but a study out of the UK might put a damper on the small-scale party for a while: mice injected with certain lengths of nanotubes developed lung problems similar to those caused by asbestos. Apparently the long, straight shape of the nanotubes causes problems for the lining of the lungs designed to deal with particulate matter, which can cause scarring, inflammation, and "probably cancer in the long term." That's a big "probably," however -- researchers say they're a long way from actually proving the link between long nanotubes and cancer, but no one's denying that it's troublesome, including the Nanotechnology Industries Association, which told the BBC that "there could be reason for concern... but it needs to be validated." It also seems like the focus is on handling the tech correctly, which is promising -- we'll keep an eye on how this plays out.[Thanks, TC]
Boron nanotubes beat carbon at its own game
If 2007 was the year of the carbon nanotube, it looks like 2008 could be the year for boron nanotubes to shine. Carbon nanotubes have been sprouting up in all sorts of tech that requires strong building blocks and fast electronics at the microscopic scale, but boron nanotubes, which were discovered in 2004, are looking even better at electronics, while matching carbon in the strength department. Researchers at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China have proved in simulation that the boron nanotubes can have variable electrical properties, which could make boron the jack of all trades at the nano scale, but that's about as far as we go with this whole "science" thing. Bill Nye would be so disappointed in us.
Researchers develop bendable, paper-based battery
Nah, the researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute won't be crowned the first to develop a flexible (or paper-based, for that matter) battery, but their minuscule prototype "is an integrated device, not a combination of pieces" as others typically are. The battery uses "paper infused with an electrolyte and carbon nanotubes that are embedded in the paper," and could eventually be utilized in combination with solar cells or "scaled up and shaped into something like a car door, offering moving electrical storage and power when needed." Currently, however, the wee samples can release just "2.3-volts, or enough to illuminate a small light," but the idea of using these things to power pacemakers and the like isn't that far fetched.[Via BBC, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nanotube breakthrough creates scalable transistors
Nanotubes have certainly played their part in various forms of swank gadgetry over the years, but researchers at the University of Illinois, Lehigh University, and Purdue University seem to have upped the ante for future nanotube implementations. Their approach utilizes "dense arrays of aligned and linear nanotubes as a thin-film semiconductor material suitable for integration into electronic devices," which essentially means that the arrays can be transferred into devices where silicon isn't entirely comfortable, such as "flexible displays, structural health monitors, and heads-up displays." Interestingly, the creators aren't expecting their discovery to overtake silicon, but they did mention that the linear arrays could be "added to a silicon chip and exploited for particular purposes, such as higher speed operation, higher power capacity, and linear behavior for enhanced functionality." Sounds like these gurus are just the type Intel would be scouting right about now, eh?[Via TechnologyReview]
