carbonnanotubes
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GE turns butterfly-inspired tech into cheap, accurate thermal sensors (video)
When last we heard from GE and its Morpho-butterfly inspired sensors, all the talk was about detecting chemicals. And, with $6.3 million in funding coming from DARPA, we're not surprised. In the latest issue of Nature Photonics, however, the company's researchers show that the wing-like structures are just as good at detecting heat as they are ricin attacks. By coating them with carbon nanotubes the team was able to create a sensor sensitive to temperature changes as small as 0.02 degrees Celsius with a response rate of 1/40 of a second. The sensors could eventually find their way into imaging devices and medical equipment, and are expected to cost just a fraction of similar technologies currently on the market. Of course, since DARPA is still involved with the project, there are some potential security uses as well -- such as screening devices and fire detection. Head after the break for a video and some PR.
Nanotech-enhanced 'smart paint' promises to detect structural damage
We've seen scientists explore a number of ways to make paint "smarter" over the years, and now a team of researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow have devised a method that they say could do nothing short of "revolutionize structural safety." The key to that is some novel nanotechnology that effectively turns the paint into a sensor network that's able to detect minor structural faults before they become a severe problem. More specifically, the paint consists of a mix of highly aligned carbon nanotubes and a recycled waste material known as fly ash -- when the nanotubes bend, the conductivity changes, indicating that there could be a structural problem developing. What's more, the fly ash is also said to give the paint a cement-like structure, which the researchers say could let it be used in harsh conditions where traditional structural monitoring can prove difficult (and expensive).
IBM builds 9 nanometer carbon nanotube transistor, puts silicon on notice
It's not the smallest transistor out there, but the boffins at IBM have constructed the tiniest carbon nanotube transistor to date. It's nine nanometers in size, making it one nanometer smaller than the presumed physical limit of silicon transistors. Plus, it consumes less power and is able to carry more current than present-day technology. The researchers accomplished the trick by laying a nanotube on a thin layer of insulation, and using a two-step process -- involving some sort of black magic, no doubt -- to add the electrical gates inside. The catch? (There's always a catch) Manufacturing pure batches of semiconducting nanotubes is difficult, as is aligning them in such a way that the transistors can function. So, it'll be some time before the technology can compete with Intel's 3D silicon, but at least we're one step closer to carbon-based computing.
Cheap electronic skin edges us closer to cyberpunk future
Researchers working for the Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab have figured out how to create relatively inexpensive "electronic skin" comprising carbon nanotubes enriched with semiconductors. Their process involves an enriched single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) solution embedded in a honeycomb pattern of hexagonal holes to make it more flexible and stretchable - it's so limber, they wrapped it around a baseball, as you can see in the photo above. Combined with inkjet printing of electrical contacts, the technology paves the way for making flexible, wearable computers and a host of other cool things that William Gibson and other cyberpunk authors thought of back in the 1980s: smart bandages, flexible solar cells and electronic skin that can sense touch. Bring on the Zeiss eye implants and neural interface jacks!
Researchers use inkjet acumen to create wireless explosive sensor from paper
Meet Krishna Naishadham and Xiaojuan (Judy) Song. They're researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and those little devices they're holding may one day save you from an explosive device. This petite prototype is actually a paper-like wireless sensor that was printed using basic inkjet technology, developed by professor Manos Tentzeris. Its integrated lightweight antenna allows the sensor to link up with communication devices, while its functionalized carbon nanotubes enable it to pick up on even the slightest traces of ammonia -- an ingredient common to most IEDs. According to Tentzeris, the trick to such inkjet printing lies in the development of "inks" that can be deposited at relatively low temperatures. These inks, laced with silver nanoparticles, can then be uniformly distributed across paper-based components using a process called sonication. The result is a low-cost component that can adhere to just about any surface. The wireless sensor, meanwhile, requires comparatively low amounts of power, and could allow users to detect bombs from a safe distance. Naishadham says his team's device is geared toward military officials, humanitarian workers or any other bomb sniffers in hazardous situations, though there's no word yet on when it could enter the market. To find out more, careen past the break for the full PR.
Stanford builds super-stretchy skin sensor out of carbon nanotubes (video)
An artificial skin that senses pressure, pinches and touch sounds like a macguffin from The Outer Limits (the episode "Valerie 23" if we recall correctly), but that's what a team from Stanford University has cooked up on the back of its pick-up truck. Sensors made of silicon films with a matrix of liquid carbon nanotubes ensure the material snaps back to its original shape no matter how frequently it's pulled about. When compressed, the electrical conductivity of the skin changes, and by measuring where and by how much, it knows the location and pressure of where you jab your fingers. The team wants to combine this super stretchy film with a much more sensitive sensor and if it can do it, then the technology could end up as an artificial skin for burn victims, covering prosthetic limbs or even replacing your multitouch display -- just be careful, you might hurt Siri if you pinch-to-zoom her too hard.
Dipping capacitors and batteries in nanotubes could improve capacity
Stanford researchers figured out that, by dipping electrodes for super capacitors in a solution of carbon nanotubes or a conductive polymer they could increase the charging capacity by up to 45-percent. The team started working with composite electrodes of graphene and manganese oxide, since manganese is cheap and plentiful, but were hamstrung by its low conductivity. The thin coating of more conductive material greatly boosted the capacitance of the electrodes, and thus their ability to hold a charge. Further tests are still required to find the actual energy density of the dipped electrodes, but lead researchers Yi Cui and Zhenan Bao are already working on a way to apply the same technique to batteries.
Invisibility cloak made of carbon nanotubes uses 'mirage effect' to disappear
If the phrase "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" means anything to you, you'll be happy to know that scientists have come one step closer to a Potter-style "invisibility cloak" so you can use your Marauder's Map to the fullest. With the help of carbon nanotubes, researchers have been able to make objects seem to magically vanish by using the same principle that causes mirages. As anyone who's been especially parched along Route 66 knows, optical illusions occur when heat changes the air's temperature and density, something that forces light to "bend," making us see all sorts of crazy things. Apply the same theory under water using nanotubes -- one molecule carbon coils with super high heat conductivity -- and scientists can make a sheet of the stuff "disappear." Remember, it only works underwater, so get your gillyweed ready and check out the video after the break.
Bee venom used to create ultra-sensitive explosives sensor
We knew that well-trained bees were capable of sniffing out dynamite and other explosives, but researchers at MIT have now come up with a slightly less militant way to use our winged friends as bomb detectors. A team of chemical engineers at the school recently developed a new, ultra-sensitive sensor that's sharp enough to detect even one molecule of TNT. Their special ingredient? Bee venom. Turns out, a bee's poison contains protein fragments called bombolitins, that react to explosive compounds. To create the detector, researchers applied these bombolitins to naturally fluorescent carbon nanotubes. Whenever an explosive molecule binds with the protein fragments, the interaction will alter the wavelength of the carbon cylinder's fluorescent light. The shift is too small for the naked eye to pick up on, but can be detected using specially designed microscopes. If it's ever developed for commercial use, the sensor could provide a more acute alternative to the spectrometry-based detectors used at most airport security checkpoints. At the moment, however, the technology isn't quite ready to be deployed on a widespread basis, so feel free to keep on living in fear. Full PR after the break.
Self-strengthening polymer nanocomposite works best under pressure
No one keeps carbon nanotubes down -- especially not these guys. The always popular allotropes have been enlisted by researchers at Rice University to create a composite material that gets stronger under pressure. When combined with polydimethylsiloxane, a rubbery polymer, the tubes form a nanocomposite that exhibits self-strengthening properties also exhibited in bones. During testing, the team found the material increased in stiffness by 12 percent after 3.5 million compressions. Apparently, the crew is stumped on why it reacts this way, but is no less eager to see it working in the real world -- discussion is already underway to use the stuff as artificial cartilage. And here we thought aerogel was cool. Full PR after the break.
New phase-change memory gets boost from carbon nanotubes, puts PRAM claims to shame
We've been hearing about the potential flash killer for years, and now a team of University of Illinois engineers is claiming that its new phase-change technology could make the PRAM of our dreams look quaint by comparison. Like so many groundbreaking discoveries of late, carbon nanotubes are at the heart of the this new mode of memory, which uses 100x less power than its phase-change predecessors. So, how does it work? Basically, the team replaced metal wires with carbon nanotubes to pump electricity through phase-change bits, reducing the size of the conductor and the amount of energy consumed. Still too much technobabble? How 'bout this -- they're using tiny tubes to give your cellphone juice for days. Get it? Good. [Thanks, Jeff]
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.
Nanotechnology enables ultra high-def LCDs, cheaper stacked-electrode OLED screens
Pixel density enthusiasts, pay close attention, because science is ready to blow your minds -- the University of Michigan has developed an LCD technology that can display their logo in a space just nine microns high. By creating a filter made of microscopic metal gratings with differently sized holes just a few hundred nanometers wide, researchers discovered they could precisely capture wavelengths associated to red, green and blue light, producing pixels roughly eight times smaller than those in the iPhone 4's famous screen, and entire images that could practically fit inside a single dot of Kopin's microdisplay. Meanwhile, OLEDs (which don't require filters to produce their color) saw a nanotech breakthrough of their own last week, as a group at the University of Florida have discovered that carbon nanotubes can revitalize a once-inefficient but promising vertical stacking technique. Layering thin sheets of aluminum, carbon nanotubes, organic material and finally gold on top of a glass substrate, scientists have created OLEDs that promise to be cheaper, faster and require one-tenth of the power of those using polycrystalline silicon, and could theoretically be printed as a flexible display as well. Here's hoping we'll see the fruits of these fellows' labors soon -- we can't wait to pen a follow-up to this epic fight.
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.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: skyscrapers, combustible ice, and coffee-powered cars
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. This week Inhabitat took a peek into the future of our built environment by showcasing the most incredible designs from the 2010 eVolo Skyscraper Competition. From water purifying buildings to cities stacked on stilts and self-sufficient underwater skyscrapers, there's no shortage of futuristic thinking on tap. Alternative energy was also a hot topic this week as China launched plans to tap "combustible ice" as an energy source and researchers at MIT discovered a new way to produce electricity by sending thermopower waves through carbon nanotubes. We also saw several exciting advances in efficient transportation as South Korea rolled out an EV that is recharged by electrified roads and researchers at UT Dallas revealed a heat-scavenging tailpipe that may one day help power cars. And if you think your Prius gets good mileage, get a load of this super-efficient gas engine that gets 98 MPG. Finally, if you rely on that morning cup of coffee to get your engine running, you won't want to miss this coffee-powered car that gets 56 espressos per mile
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.
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]
Researchers create nanotube memory that can store data for a billion years
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley have developed an ultra-dense memory chip that is capable of storing data for up to a billion years (besting silicon chips by roughly... a billion years). Consisting of a crystalline iron nanoparticle shuttle encased within a multiwalled carbon nanotube, the device can be written to and read from using conventional voltages already available in digital electronics today. The research was led by Alex Zettl, who notes that current digital storage methods are capable of storing mass amounts of data, but last just decades, while, say, some books have managed to last nearly a thousand years, though the amount of data they contain is quite small. The new method, called shuttle memory, is based on the iron nanoparticle which can move back and forth within the hollow nanotu. Zettl believes that, while shuttle memory is years away from practical application, it could have a lot of archival applications in the future. There's a video after the break, hit the read link for more tiny details.[Via The Register]
MIT builds battery from bacterial virus, humans to power machines by 2012
We've been tracking MIT professor Angela Belcher's attempt to build batteries and nano-electronics from viruses since 2006. Scientifically speaking, the so-called "virus" is actually a bacteriophage, a virus that preys only on bacteria while leaving humans of diminishing scientific knowledge alone to doubt that claim. Now, in a new report co-authored by Belcher, MIT research documents the construction of a lithium-ion battery (pictured after the break) with the help of a biological virus dubbed M13. M13 acts as a "biological scaffold" that allows carbon nanotubes and bits of iron phosphate to attach and form a network for conducting electricity. Specifically, MIT used the genetically engineered material to create the battery's negatively charged anode and positively charged cathode. Best of all, MIT's technique can be performed at, or below room temperature which is important from a manufacturing perspective -- a process that MIT claims will be "cheap and environmentally benign." Already MIT has constructed a virus-battery about the size of that found in a watch to turn on small lights in an MIT lab. Belcher claims that just a third of an ounce (about 10 grams) of the viral battery material could power an iPod for 40 hours. In time and with enough effort MIT expects to scale the technology to power electronic vehicles. Remember, when the time comes choose the red pill.[Via Scientific American, Thanks James]
