Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene - Research and Applications

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE SCIENTISTS CREATE NEW NANOTUBE STRUCTURES
Thanks to the rising trend toward miniaturization, carbon nanotubes - which
are about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair and possess several unique
and very useful properties - have become the choice candidates for use as
building blocks in nanosized electronic and mechanical devices. But it is
precisely their infinitesimal dimensions, as well as their tendency to clump
together, that make it difficult for scientists to manipulate nanotubes.
http://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/site/en/weizman.asp?pi=371&doc_id=5131

CAUTION ABOUT NANOTUBE CONTACTS
Electrical and thermal connections to the environment shape nanotube
response
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/lab/34706

GRAPHENE GOES SUPERFLUID
2D bilayers may show superfluidity at room temperature
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/34109

IBM RESEARCHERS SEE QUANTIZED CONDUCTANCE IN GRAPHENE
Quantized conductance — whereby the current through a wire changes in a
stepwise, rather than continuous manner — has been seen in very thin ribbons
of graphene for the first time. The discovery was made by physicists in the
US, who claim that this first sighting is an important step towards using
such graphene “nanoribbons” in transistors that are much smaller than those
used in electronics devices today.
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/34178

CARBON NANOTUBES EXTEND SUPERBRIDGE DESIGN
Carbon nanotube bundles could be used to extend the main span of suspension
bridges by up to three times, according to new work by researchers in Italy.
Nicola Pugno and Alberto Carpinteri of Turin Polytechnic have calculated
that the main span of the Messina bridge – which joins Sicily to mainland
Italy – could be increased to more than 6 km from a possible 2 km today. The
result might also allow "superbridges" to be built in the future at reduced
cost, say the researchers.
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/34424

NANOTUBES TO FORM ULTRASENSITIVE SENSORS
Researchers at the University of Warwick's Department of Chemistry have
recently discovered a new way of producing carbon nanotubes from a highly
sensitive ready made electric circuit. These ultramicroelectrodes may be
particularly useful for the creation of ultra sensitive sensors and may also
have applications for catalysis in fuel cells.
http://www.tfot.info/news/1197/nanotubes-to-form-ultrasensitive-sensors.html

RESEARCHERS DEVELOP INNOVATIVE ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS
Innovative solutions to the problem of storing energy generated by renewable
sources are being developed by researchers at the University of Nottingham.
Academics have received 1,4M euro in funding from E.ON, one of Europe's
leading power and gas companies, to develop a new generation of super
batteries and undersea storage bags that will collect energy in the form of
compressed air. As methods of producing energy from renewable sources such
as wind, solar and wave and tidal power become more advanced, the effective
and efficient storage of that energy is fast becoming one of the key
challenges facing the energy industry. As these types of renewables can only
produce energy under favourable conditions, for example when the wind is
blowing, storage capacity will help in ensuring supply can be matched to
demand. The researchers are using cutting edge nanotechnology to develop an
electrical energy storage system based on power electronics and a new
energy! storage device called a supercapattery, which combines the benefits
of a supercapacitor and a battery. It will be constructed from carbon
nanotubes chemically engineered with traditional battery materials.
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/public-affairs/press-releases/index.phtml?menu=
pressreleases&code=ENE-131/08&create_date=16-jun-2008

SUPER-SENSITIVE AND SMALL: NEW MIT DETECTOR USES NANOTUBES TO SENSE DEADLY GASES
Using carbon nanotubes, MIT chemical engineers have built the most sensitive
electronic detector yet for sensing deadly gases such as the nerve agent sarin.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/nanotube-0605.html

CARBON NANOTUBE TECHNOLOGY COULD SUPERSEDE PLASMA AND LCD FLAT SCREENS
Just as silicon is the wonder material of the computer age, carbon nanotubes
will most likely be the materials responsible for the next evolutionary step
in electronics and computing. Their extraordinary properties have identified
them as having the potential to revolutionize many technologies. In
particular, it is widely believed that carbon nanotubes will take electronic
devices to the next level. Many people expect the hugely popular LCD and
plasma screens to be replaced by field emission flat screen displays
(FED-TV). FED-TV's combine all the best aspects of CRT's, LCD's and plasma
TV's into a single package. While the technology exists, manufacturers are
at present unable to compete with LCD's and plasma displays on a cost basis.
However, carbon nanotubes have the ability to change all that.
http://www.plastemart.com/upload/Literature/Carbon-nanotube-technology-could-
supersede-plasma-and-LCD-flat-screens.asp

PRO BIKE: BMC SLC01 PRO MACHINE
Swiss company BMC has found a new focus after pulling their sponsorship from
the top pro teams Phonak and Astana. They're now supporting their own
continental team, BMC Racing, which was granted ProTour wildcard status by
the UCI recently. This means that in theory, they can be invited to the
biggest professional races, although the battle between the UCI and the
grand tour organisers may affect that.
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/pro-bike-bmc-slc01-pro-machine-15175

'ELECTRON TURBINE' COULD PRINT DESIGNER MOLECULES
A carbon nanotube that spins in a current of electrons, like a wind turbine
in a breeze, could become the world's smallest printer or shrink computer
memory, UK researchers say.
The design is simple. A carbon nanotube 10 nanometres long and 1 nm wide is
suspended between two others, its ends nested inside them to form a rotating
joint. When a direct current is passed along the tubes, the central one
spins around.
That design has as yet only been tested using advanced computer simulations
by Colin Lambert and colleagues at Lancaster University, Lancashire, UK.
But Adrian Bachtold of the Catalan Institute for Nanotechnology, who was not
involved in the work, intends to build the electron turbines and says it
should be straightforward.
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14111-electron-turbine-could-print-
designer-molecules.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news1_head_dn14111

JAPANESE SCIENTISTS CREATE MICROSCOPIC NOODLE BOWL
Japanese scientists say they have used cutting-edge technology to create a
noodle bowl so small it can be seen only through a microscope.
Mechanical engineering professor Masayuki Nakao said Thursday he and his
students at the University of Tokyo used a carbon-based material to produce
a noodle bowl with a diameter 1/25,000 of an inch in a project aimed at
developing nanotube-processing technology.
The Japanese-style ramen bowl was carved out of microscopic nanotubes, Nakao
said.
Nanotubes are tube-shaped pieces of carbon, measuring about
one-ten-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hes8YStxiRV8xi7iTAl8-LX1c9iQD90VD0FG0

LIVERMORE RESEARCHERS USE CARBON NANOTUBES FOR MOLECULAR TRANSPORT
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory June 09, 2008 Molecular transport
across cellular membranes is essential to many of life's processes, for
example electrical signaling in nerves, muscles and synapses.
In biological systems, the membranes often contain a slippery inner surface
with selective filter regions made up of specialized protein channels of
sub-nanometer size. These pores regulate cellular traffic, allowing some of
the smallest molecules in the world to traverse the membrane extremely
quickly, while at the same time rejecting other small molecules and ions.
https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2008/NR-08-06-03.html

BROWN RESEARCHERS WORK TOWARD ENDING CARTILAGE LOSS
Brown University nanotechnology engineer Thomas Webster has published a
first-ever study that shows how a surface of carbon nanotubes combined with
electrical pulses could help regenerate cartilage naturally in the body.
http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2008/06/cartilage08jun

MIT DETECTOR USES NANOTUBES TO SENSE DEADLY GASES
Using carbon nanotubes, MIT chemical engineers have built the most sensitive
electronic detector yet for sensing deadly gases such as the nerve agent
sarin. The technology, which could also detect mustard gas, ammonia and VX
nerve agents, has potential to be used as a low-cost, low-energy device that
could be carried in a pocket or deployed inside a building to monitor
hazardous chemicals.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/nanotube-0605.html
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20976/

NEW STUDY SHOWS INHALING LONG, THIN CARBON NANOTUBES MAY RESULT IN
ASBESTOS-RELATED DISEASE
Carbon Nanotubes That Look Like Asbestos, Behave Like Asbestos
http://www.nanotechproject.org/
http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2008.111.html;jsessionid=
B39F62F385B34083F1DDB5EC0CBA73F8

RICE EXPERTS AVAILABLE TO COMMENT ON STUDY ABOUT NANOTUBE SAFETY
Chemists and nanosafety experts Vicki Colvin and Kristen Kulinowski of Rice
University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology are
available to speak with reporters about newly published research that finds
that certain multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) can induce responses in
mice that are similar to those induced by asbestos fibers.
http://www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/expert052008nanotubesafety.shtml
http://icon.rice.edu/resources.cfm?doc_id=12299

SWNTS REMOVE BACTERIA AND VIRUSES FROM WATER
Single-walled carbon nanotube filter in the pipeline to clean up water
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/33988

R&D PROFILE: DRUG-ELUTING ANODIZED TITANIUM ORTHOPEDIC IMPLANTS: T. WEBSTER,
BROWN UNIVERSITY
The average functional lifetime of orthopedic implants has been estimated to
be less than 15 years. Few studies have focused on creating an orthopedic
implant with multi-functional drug release to inhibit infection and wound
inflammation events while increasing new bone formation.
http://www.nsti.org/news/item.html?id=253

NANOTUBES ON THE LOOK OUT FOR NEW BONE
In situ biosensor could prolong the lifetime of hip replacements and other
implants
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/34698

NANOTUBES TURN UP THE HEAT ON CANCER
Antibody-coated carbon nanotubes target cancer cells in ablation study
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/34648

NANOTUBES POSE A HEALTH RISK, BUT THE FINDINGS CALL FOR CAUTION, NOT ALARM
NANOTUBES, one of the wonder materials of the new age of nanotechnology, may
carry a health risk similar to that of asbestos, a wonder material of an
earlier age that turned into a scourge after decades of use when its fibres
were found to cause lung disease.
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/314004.html

# posted by Osváth Zoltán @ 3:27 pm 0 Comments