High-Performance Carbon Wires Could Help Prevent Energy Blackouts

Traditional copper wires have excellent electrical conductivity, but they also oxidize and corrode, are susceptible to vibration fatigue, and create premature electronics failures due to overheating conditions. Researchers at the UK's University of Cambridge have achieved an unprecedented level of control over the properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on a large scale, resulting in nanotubes that can be used in electrical systems. New super-strong electrical wires made from CNTs are one-tenth the weight of copper, and if used in conventional systems, would make vehicles more fuel efficient and greatly reduce losses in electricity transmission. The new carbon wires can even be joined to conventional metal wires, which until now has not been possible. The University of Cambridge researchers are working to achieve comparable levels of conductivity to copper in order to accelerate the commercial development of carbon wiring.

Transcript

00:00:02 [Music] this may look like candy floss but it's actually a cloud of carbon these are carbon nanotube fibers extremely thin long cylinders made of carbon atoms they are among the strongest and stiffest fibers known but difficulty in precisely controlling their properties has meant that their practical

00:00:29 applications have been limited by injecting the precursor materials and Catalyst into a reactor in the gas phase researchers from the University of cambridge's electric carbon nanomaterials group can achieve an unprecedented level of control over the nanot tubes pulling them out of the reactor and long threads one tenth the width of a human

00:00:49 hair when several of these threads are wound together they can be insulated and used as electrical wiring Which is far lighter stronger and more efficient than typical copper wiring perhaps most importantly the carbon wiring can be connected to metal using a normal soldering process using a newly discovered low temperature Carbon bonding alloy which until now has not

00:01:12 been possible [Music]