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The same lab does a lot of things with nanotubes. One of the videos linked to at the end of the embedded one shows the work they're doing with spinning carbon n
by Sanddancer 11y ago
The same lab does a lot of things with nanotubes. One of the videos linked to at the end of the embedded one shows the work they're doing with spinning carbon nanotube threads. Some fascinating progress with making lightweight durable materials there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XDJC64tDR0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XDJC64tDR0
- fudged71 11y agoIsn't this the long sought-after material necessary for a space elevator to exist?
- adrianN 11y agoIt depends on the length of the individual tubes. Single tubes have awesome tensile strength, but a fiber made up of many tubes probably is a lot weaker because they only stick together via weak forces like van der Waals.
- dnautics 11y agoIt's not that cool. For starters the nanotubes are supplied beforehand, this is just using an electric field to position them. Secondly, the tubes are not necessarily bound or fused together at the end of the process. I think they go back to bring a powder.
- tomkinstinch 11y agoIndeed, and two of the 1996 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, Richard Smalley and Robert Curl, performed their initial work on fullerenes at Rice [1]. The university has a rich history working with nanotubes and other fullerenes. 1. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996/press.html http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1...