kunkmiester wrote:Can they be made long enough for practical use? Last I heard they were up to a few millimeters, but that's not long enough to weave or spin.
18mm is the record, and they were reliably producing 12mm length batches.
The acid solution bypasses the need for nanotube length when weaving or spinning; the fibers/sheets they make can be of any length, and the tubes will be aligned. However, the resulting material isn't especially strong unless the basic nanotube length is reliably increased, so it's currently useless for many of the predicted possibilities of nanotube strength, but there's still a wide range of potential "practical" uses with CNT's electrical properties.
Coupled with another interesting development:
Preferential Growth of Metallic Carbon Nanotubes Then we're talking about the possibility of using them as power lines, once the scale of manufacturing can be increased. Maybe not high tension power lines, yet, until the nanotube length is increased, but there's plenty of other need.
It's also an interesting development for computer/electronic applications, where strength is irrelevant, but control over conductivity is desired.
Sorry I missed those posts on your blog, Simon; just went and read.
Look at where transistors were in 1948. Not to mention Lilenthal in 1925 and the invention of the FET.
I have been absolutely fascinated with CNT's since I first heard of them in the 90's when the research burst into them began. Coupled with a refresh reading of Clark's
Fountains of Paradise, it inspired me to do my architectural thesis ('96) on a ground station for a space elevator (which wasn't very impressive, honestly, but still was fun to try).
It's been what, 15-20 years since the basic research into CNT really got under way? I expect the transition to applied research is already started on several fronts. Just need a couple of breakthroughs: length and scale of production. They'll happen
