Link to full article“First, we were able to grow the arrays up to 18 mm,” he says, ticking off the achievements. “Second, we produced a uniform carpet of 12-mm carbon nanotube arrays on a 4-inch wafer, which moves the invention into the field of scaled-up manufacturing for industrial application.
So 18mm isn't very long except it when its
diameter is in the nanoscale.
The Fine Print and Nano Details
The UC substrate for growing CNT arrays is a multilayered structure with a sophisticated design in which a composite catalyst is formed on top of an oxidized silicon wafer. Its manufacturing requires a “clean room” environment and thin-film deposition techniques that can be scaled up to produce commercial quantities. CNT synthesis is carried out in a hydrogen/hydrocarbon/water/argon environment at 750 degrees Celsius. The achievement of growing centimeter-long nanotube arrays provides hope that continuous growth of CNTs in the meter length range is possible. Leonard Rosenbaum, president and CEO of CVD Equipment Corporation, is looking forward to continuing the partnership with UC to bring this technology from the laboratory into full-scale production. UC is also partnering with another company to develop production of long CNT arrays that can be spun into fibers.
Spun into fibres should mean "super strength" fabrics and cordage.
Especially important is that long CNT arrays can be spun into fibers that are — in theory — significantly stronger and lighter than any existing fibers and are electrically conductive. Nanotube fibers are expected to engender revolutionary advances in the development of lightweight, high-strength materials and could potentially replace copper wire.
Conductive enough (maybe even superconducting in some conditions) to replace copper?
Topic: The World's Longest Carbon Nanotube created (Read 1015 times)