Submitted via IRC for Bytram
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: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 17 2018, @12:55AM (1 child)
Breaking news, carbon nanotubes bag found in the bottom of Mariana Trench.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 17 2018, @08:02PM
my thoughts exactly. we're killing animals and people with plastic (iow, we're too stupid to handle plastic like grown ups) and we want to replace it with something much more difficult to clean up after? like nanotubes in our water to compliment the pharmaceuticals? oh lordy!