NovaSolix’s carbon nanotube (CNT) antennas are small enough to match the nano-scale wavelengths of sunlight. Antennas can convert electromagnetic spectrum much more efficiently than photovoltaic (PV) cells. When perfected, NovaSolix antennas will capture over four times the energy of current solar panels. They will reach nearly 90% efficiency versus ~20% for todays solar panels. NovaSolix …
Thin nanotube films effectively stop dendrites that grow naturally from unprotected lithium metal anodes in batteries. Over time, these tentacle-like dendrites can pierce the battery’s electrolyte core and reach the cathode, causing the battery to fail. That problem has mostly stopped the use of lithium metal in commercial applications. Lithium metal charges much faster and …
China has carbon nanotube bundles in the lab that are 20 times stronger than kevlar. They are trying to scale them up for mass production. If they succeed in mass producing tons of this material then what has been impossible become possible engineering. Superstrong materials were the key part of molecular nanotechnology speculation. Carbon nanotube …
In the lab, China has small quantities of carbon nanotube bundles 20 times stronger than Kevlar. These are ultralong (several centimeters) carbon nanotube fibers have been made into stronger bundles. The tensile strength of CNTBs (Carbon nanotube bundles) is at least 9–45 times that of other materials. If a more rigorous engineering definition is used, …
NASA awarded a potential $8.1 million dollar contract to Nanocomp Technologies, now part of Huntsman, for the “continued improvement of manufacturing high-strength CNT yarn/tape for use in developing CNT composites with strength properties at least double that of carbon fiber composites in use today. Successful improvement of this nanotechnology that could enable lighter spacecraft and …
Researchers at Los Alamos and partners in France and Germany are exploring the enhanced potential of carbon nanotubes as single-photon emitters for quantum information processing. Nanotubes integrated into electroluminescent devices can provide greater control over timing of light emission and they can be feasibly integrated into photonic structures. They are highlighting the development and photophysical …
In 1991, Sumio Iijima’s discovered multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the insoluble material of arc-burned graphite rods and Mintmire, Dunlap, and White’s independent prediction that if single-walled carbon nanotubes could be made, then they would exhibit remarkable conducting properties helped create the initial buzz that is now associated with carbon nanotubes. Nanotube research accelerated greatly following …
Finally ultralong (several centimeter) carbon nanotube fibers have been made into stronger bundles. The tensile strength of CNTBs (Carbon nanotube bundles) is at least 9–45 times that of other materials. If a more rigorous engineering definition is used, the tensile strength of macroscale CNTBs is still 5–24 times that of any other types of engineering …
Carbon nanotube bundles are becoming a feasible and economically convenient solution for the realization in our time of super bridges, such as those required across the Straits of Bab al Mandab, Messina or Gibraltar (main spans ∼2.7, 3.3 or 3.5 km, respectively). The Straits of Bab al Mandab bridge would be intercontinental bridges between the …
Nantero is developing next-generation memory using carbon nanotubes. NRAM’s has DRAM-like speed, nonvolatility and low cost. Nantero and its partner Fujitsu aims to ship a DDR4 DRAM alternative using the technology in 2019. Nantero’s non-volatile NRAMs use electrostatic charge to activate systolic arrays of CNT cells it claims are relatively easy to sputter on to …
Fracture-resistant “rebar graphene” is more than twice as tough as pristine graphene. Rebar graphene, developed by the Rice lab of chemist James Tour in 2014, uses carbon nanotubes for reinforcement. Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon. On the two-dimensional scale, the material is stronger than steel, but because graphene is so thin, it is …