Nanotechnology

A pair of carbon nanotube arrays will be flying in space by the end of the year to test technology that could provide more efficient micro-propulsion for future generations of spacecraft. Part of a Cube Satellite (CubeSat) developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), the...

A new study by Army researchers looks at inserting carbon nanotubes into the structural design of helicopter rotor blades to improve performance. The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's research laboratory hopes this approach could lead to the design and...

Carbon nanotubes and magnetic molecules are considered building blocks of future nanoelectronic systems. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and French colleagues have combined both components on the atomic level and to build a quantum mechanical system with novel properties.

An international team of scientists has taken the next step in creating nanoscale machines by designing a multi-component molecular motor that can be moved clockwise and counterclockwise. Although researchers can rotate or switch individual molecules on and off, the new study is the first...

The University of Southampton (UK) is pioneering research into developing the strongest silica nanofibers in the world. Globally, the quest has been on to find ultra-high-strength composites, leading scientists to investigate light, ultra-high-strength nanowires that are not compromised...

Using a new method for precisely controlling the deposition of carbon, researchers have demonstrated a technique for connecting multi-walled carbon nanotubes to the metallic pads of integrated circuits without the high interface resistance produced by traditional fabrication...

By modifying the rate at which chemical reactions take place, nanoparticle catalysts fulfill myriad roles in industry, the biomedical arena, and everyday life. They may be used for the production of polymers and biofuels, improving pollution and emission control devices,...

Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have usedthe capabilities of the Rensselaer Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI) supercomputer touncover the properties of a promising form of graphene, known as graphenenanowiggles. The graphitic nanoribbons can be segmented into several...

INSIDER reader Kenneth Polcak submitted a "Question of the Week" to his fellow design engineer pros:

A process using a modified dielectrophoresis device separates single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) according to their polarizability in electric fields. This depends on the size and dielectric constant of individual nanotubes and easily separates metallic from semiconducting nanotubes....

A report reopens the discussion of “Sequestration of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in a Polymer” (MSC-23257), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 31, No. 12 (December 2007), page 38. To recapitulate: Sequestration of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in molecules of...

Functionalization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with linear molecular side chains of polyphenylene ether (PPE) has been shown to be effective in solubilizing the CNTs in the solvent components of solutions that are cast to make epoxy/CNT composite films. (In the absence of solubilization, the CNTs...

A continuing program of research and development has been directed toward improvement of a prior batch process in which single-walled carbon nanotubes are formed by catalytic disproportionation of carbon monoxide in a fluidized-bed reactor. The overall effect of the improvements has been...

Elastomers are reinforced with functionalized, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) giving them high- breaking strain levels and low densities. Cross-linked elastomers are prepared using amine-terminated, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), with an average molecular weight of 5,000 daltons, and a...