nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

soph · 2003-01-31 19:58:36

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-03f.html

this article shows great promise-maybe the results will help our friends over at highlift with their ribbon design!

nanotech is really going to change everything in the industrial world.

soph · 2003-01-31 20:00:06

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-03h.html

more CNTs

soph · 2003-02-02 13:51:18

mark, you had said that carbon nanotubes wont be ready for the highlift's needs within the next 15 years. i would beg to differ. 15 years is a tremendous amount of time. in the past 2 years, we have come from the virtual basement of nano-tech to developing 1 Ghz nanobots.

especially now that companies like IBM are spending money on CNT research, i think that the development will happen.

Mark Friedenbach · 2003-02-02 14:53:43

in the past 2 years, we have come from the virtual basement of nano-tech to developing 1 Ghz nanobots

Where did you hear that?

---

What I said (or at least intended to say) was that it would be 15 years until cnt's could be mass produced in both the quantity and quality required for HighLift's concept. The second article you posted gives a fairly good summary of how the current generation of cnt's are made. It's a very inprecise process, creating tubes that are deformed, variable width, and have all sorts of holes.

The HighLift ribbon will require billions of billions of billions of yet more billions of moderate length carbon nanotubes of an exact width and length without any abnomalities or deficiencies. It's been shown that cnt with just one missing or misplaced atom will have drastically different properties. Why this is the case is still unkown, and will need to be thoroughly researched before any real progress can be made.

We don't even know if we can create such nanotubes, let alone in the quantity required. We assume (rightly, I'm sure) that it is possible, but we have much to learn before we can even begin to consider how.

soph · 2003-02-02 15:08:51

it was an article at spacedaily, ill post the link when i find it.

Shaun Barrett · 2003-02-06 07:13:56

For what it's worth, my two cents worth is with Soph.
Nobody can foretell the future, I know, but 15 years is a long time. Some of the advances which occurred during the 20th century, in the space of 15 years, were quite remarkable. A quick 'for instance' might be the field of astronautics between 1954 and 1969 - what did we know about astronautics in 1954, and where was it we landed in 1969?! And the number of different fields of endeavour which had to come together, and advance at breakneck speed, in order to make Apollo 11 possible was very large.

Unless there's some fundamental impediment to creating arbitrarily long, perfectly formed carbon nanotubes, I think a method will probably be devised much sooner than 15 years from now. Whether or not all the different facets of technology required for the HighLift concept can be brought together in the next two decades is debatable, but I have high hopes that nanotubes won't be the show-stopper. If the space program over the last 20 years or so is anything to go by, it's more likely to be a lack of willpower, organisation, and funding that will put the kibosh on it!!

Maybe a good reason for optimism, though, is the absolutely stupendous boost to humanity's future spacefaring ability and prosperity that a space elevator would bring about.
Next to a functioning gravity-modifying machine, I can't imagine anything better!
:;):

Phobos · 2003-02-07 16:01:13

I believe the article soph was talking about can be found here. The ball is rolling with nanotech and I believe it won't be long at all before we have very advanced nanodevices available commercially. My favorite source of news on nanotech developments is Nanotechnology Now. I particularly enjoy it when some article by fearmongers pops up wanting to ban nanotech research. You'd be better off trying to ban breathing. It's quite possible that by the time we're ready to manufacture the CNT materials needed for the space elevator we'll have a whole new slate of quality control technologies that can verify and insure that a CNT fiber is manufactured to perfect standards on a molecular basis. It wouldn't surprise me at all considering that technical advancement tends to occur in shorter and shorter time intervals. We'll probably be seeing more technological breakthroughs occur in the first 20 years of the 21st Century than we did the entire 20th Century.

Shaun Barrett · 2003-02-07 18:37:03

I couldn't agree more, Phobos!

My gut feeling about the world of technology right now is that we're on the very brink of enormous advances in all sorts of directions.
The next twenty years, as you so rightly point out, could be the most exciting in human history!
:;):

Flat Tharsis · 2003-02-07 23:23:16

I agree with Soph, even if nanotech never reaches the nanite assembler stage, which I am hopefull about, it will be as revolutionary in all sorts of ways. The difference between now and 2023 will be as big or bigger then the difference between 1945 and today. I have hope that all this change could finally bring about the true start of the space age by the middle to late 2020s.

Echus_Chasma · 2003-02-08 13:03:06

Is it true that CNTs can create an electric current if water flows through them?
I think I read something like that in a magazine, but there was alot of opposition to the idea.

Shaun Barrett · 2003-02-08 20:10:54

Hi Echus_Chasma!
Yes, there was an article in New Scientist magazine (25th January 2003) about nanotubes and electricity.
According to Ajay Sood, a physicist at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and his student, Shankar Ghosh, and colleagues at a nearby institute, just running water past nanotubes causes them to generate a current!

The point is that water is a 'polar molecule'. In other words, the cloud of electrons shared by the two hydrogen atoms and the one oxygen atom, is asymmetric - the electrons tend to hang out at the oxygen end of the molecule more than the hydrogen end! So each water molecule is a tiny little electric dipole - a little more positive at one end and a little more negative at the other.
Passing a current of water along the nanotubes causes loosely associated electrons in the carbon lattice of the tube to follow the movement of the positive end of the dipole of each water molecule as it passes by.

Sood's results have been disputed by other groups who've failed to get a similar result in independent tests. But Sood is still taking out a patent!
Imagine towns and villages, situated on streams and rivers all over the world, being able to toss a big bundle of carbon nanotubes into the water and get free electricity! No significant disruption of the river's flow, no big expensive turbines to build, no pollution, and no CO2 to worry the life out of Josh Cryer!! ( Just kidding, Josh! .. :laugh: )
And how about putting really massive assemblies of nanotubes into the oceans where strong continuous currents are known to flow? Who knows how much electricity we might harvest with no perceptible environmental impact!

By the way, I know a neat little party trick for kids' birthdays and such. It involves the polar nature of water molecules and usually causes the little ones' eyes to light up in wonder. (Mine too, by the way! But I never actually grew up anyhow!! )
Turn on the tap in the kitchen sink so that you have a thin smooth (laminar) flow of water. Take a nylon comb and rub it vigorously on your sleeve - I think sleeves with at least some manmade material in them work better.
Then hold the comb near the water ... and watch the stream bend as the polar water molecules are attracted to the electrostatic charge on the comb! ... Magic!!
:;):

Echus_Chasma · 2003-02-08 20:29:56

Cheers Shaun.

soph · 2003-02-08 20:41:06

Shaun, but would that alter the water? Would you "run out" of electrons? Or would new ones be attracted?

Josh Cryer · 2003-02-09 00:41:28

Hmm, you can't get current until you close the circuit, and if electrons were being lost, by definition, the circuit wouldn't be closed, right?

Since we're on the subject (good thread, soph!) I read that CNTs may be small superconductors, so devices could become much more efficient, with 99.99% energy transference...

I've done the whole, static attractor with a small stream of faucet water before. Sometimes I'll do it before wetting my rather scruffy hair. It works well with ballons, too (which should be available at a kids birthday party).

And BTW, the only CO2 on this forum, is Shaun's hot air!

soph · 2003-02-09 10:07:36

I was thinking, couldnt we use CNTs to run computers that are much smaller, faster, and cooler? And the obvious implications for stronger, superconductors in industrial and commerical applications is incredible.

I have a feeling that by the time i have my PhD, CNTs will be pretty widespread!

Josh Cryer · 2003-02-09 14:59:16

Yep, that's where they're going with computers. CNTs would make very small, very fast, and very efficient chips. You can't make many structures much smaller than a CNT.

Shaun Barrett · 2003-02-09 18:50:01

Josh writes:-

And BTW, the only CO2 on this forum, is Shaun's hot air!

Gosh! ... I may be personally responsible for much of the world's climate change!!
It's comforting to know that Josh is leaving no stone unturned in his search for environmentally damaging CO2 emissions!

Josh Cryer · 2003-02-09 19:35:36

No way, I actually like the argument that the warmer the world gets, the more tropical places there'll be to visit! Here's to 109 degree temperatures in Alaska! Those beaches up there will finally get the tourism they deserve, I'm telling ya.

Shaun Barrett · 2003-02-10 00:15:24

Could the USA be the next superpower?

The United States of Antarctica, I meant?!!

:;):

Josh Cryer · 2003-02-10 09:37:52

Hahaha :laugh:

soph · 2003-02-10 19:43:28

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-03i.html

more nanotubes and nanotech. This stuff is exploding everywhere!

Josh Cryer · 2003-02-10 21:07:12

I should hope CNT's aren't exploding!

Nice, though, except that article just seems to expound on the other thing which was mentioned by Shaun. I honestly don't care that much about smaller devices at the momment, I want high strength CNT cables, which can be deployed in an elevator!

soph · 2003-02-10 21:19:17

Any research into nanotubes is good research! But as research progresses, they will become more refined, its just a matter of mass-producing the nanotubes (so basically, a nanotube is a nanotube, its just the length in question. We just need to extend the length of a nanotube to fit our design!).

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#1 2003-01-31 19:58:36

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#2 2003-01-31 20:00:06

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#3 2003-02-02 13:51:18

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#4 2003-02-02 14:53:43

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#5 2003-02-02 15:08:51

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#6 2003-02-06 07:13:56

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#7 2003-02-07 16:01:13

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#8 2003-02-07 18:37:03

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#9 2003-02-07 23:23:16

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#10 2003-02-08 13:03:06

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#11 2003-02-08 20:10:54

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#12 2003-02-08 20:29:56

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#13 2003-02-08 20:41:06

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#14 2003-02-09 00:41:28

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#15 2003-02-09 10:07:36

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#16 2003-02-09 14:59:16

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#17 2003-02-09 18:50:01

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#18 2003-02-09 19:35:36

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#19 2003-02-10 00:15:24

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#20 2003-02-10 09:37:52

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#21 2003-02-10 19:43:28

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#22 2003-02-10 21:07:12

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

#23 2003-02-10 21:19:17

Re: nanotech and carbon nanotubes - a big future

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