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EVANSTON - Northwestern University’s Jiaxing Huang is ready to reignite carbon nanotube research. And he’s doing so with a common chemical that was once used in household cleaners.
By using an inexpensive, already mass produced, simple solvent called cresol, Huang has discovered a way to make disperse carbon nanotubes at unprecedentedly high concentrations without the need for additives or harsh chemical reactions to modify the nanotubes. In a surprising twist, Huang also found that as the nanotubes’ concentrations increase, the material transitions from a dilute dispersion to a thick paste, then a free-standing gel and finally a kneadable dough that can be shaped and molded.
The study was published online on May 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2018/may/making-carbon-nanotubes-as-usable-as-common-plastics/ AND http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1800298115
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180515162801.htm
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @04:55PM (2 children)
He is not making carbon nanotubes, as the summary implies; he found out that they easily dissolve in cresol. This is not going to make them "as usable as common plastics". You can shape into forms, but the resulting products will not have any more strength than hardtack bread, since the nanotubes will not bond with each other in any way.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday May 16 2018, @05:39PM (1 child)
I don't think you're qualified to say that. You can already just mix graphene or carbon nanotubes into a metal to get more strength:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube_metal_matrix_composites [wikipedia.org]
Similar (uses silicon carbide nanoparticles instead):
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-researchers-create-exceptionally-strong-and-lightweight-new-metal [ucla.edu]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday May 16 2018, @08:39PM
When I was a boy, the nuclear was very big & heavy. You needed a HUGE bomber to send it. Enola Gay, right? Now we have the nuclear bullet, our military did incredible things with it in Iraq. Uranium. They're doing the nano armor, the nanotubes. Very strong. And perhaps nano nuclear bullets will beat that. The uranium and the nanotubes could be amazing. Big problem for us if the Russians do that. Because Crooked Hillary sold them so much of our uranium. In the horribly one-sided Uranium One deal. Collusion, folks.