quantum wires

[vfx]

Awesome.

Get these guys on the solar and battery nano tube systems too.

 

[Norbert]

Awesome.

Get these guys on the solar and battery nano tube systems too.

Ah, yes. I was just thinking of light-weight fast-charger cables and maybe electric motors. :wink:

 

[Norbert]

For the more scientific minds among us:

Iodine doped carbon nanotube cables exceeding specific electrical conductivity of metals : Scientific Reports : Nature Publishing Group

In summary, we have made double-walled carbon nanotube cables that outperform Cu and Al in specific electrical conductivity. Iodine doping effectively increases the conductivity of the cables, as well as their tensile strength. Using cables as the building blocks and employing different assembly methods, larger and longer wires and cables can be created and we have used this approach to demonstrate a nanotube wire circuit to power a household light bulb. These lightweight nanotube cables could be serious contenders for replacing metal wires in electrical transmission as they would have intrinsic advantages to metals such as high temperature stability and chemical resistance.

 

[vfx]

Cost?
Brittleness?
Chemical resistance?
Critter resistance?

 

[rsquared99]

Wow, think of the trunk space you could gain with nanotube cables and adapters! Think about it Tesla.

 

[Norbert]

Aerographite - New method to produce carbon nanotubes, resulting in the lightest material ever produced :

New lightest-ever material: Ideal power for electric car • The Register

(Supposedly a possible use is for lighter batteries.)

 

[brianman]

Holy cow - "75 times lighter than Styrofoam"

 

[Norbert]

Using carbon nanotubes (same as "quantum wires" in the title of this thread) for building Supercapacitors:

Graphene Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Created, A Seamless 3-D Material For Energy Storage Electronics - CleanTechnica

Researchers from Rice University have created a ‘seamless’ graphene and nanotube hybrid. The material is probably the best electrode interface material possible for energy storage usages and other related electronics applications, according to the researchers.

The new hybrid material appears as “forests of carbon nanotubes that rise quickly from sheets of graphene to astounding lengths of up to 120 microns. A house on an average plot with the same aspect ratio would rise into space.”

“The performance we see in this study is as good as the best carbon-based supercapacitors that have ever been made,” Tour said. “We’re not really a supercapacitor lab, and still we were able to match the performance because of the quality of the electrode. It’s really remarkable, and it all harkens back to that unique interface.”

More about possible applications:

Graphene: The Renewable Energy Solution - TheStreet

Combine easy manufacture with high capacity and you have an elegant solution to the electricity storage problem. A graphene capacitor recharges quickly but lasts for years. A high-capacity graphene capacitor would take an electric car a very long way, and power up in the time it takes to order a cup of coffee. Since it's just carbon, it would be safe on the airplane. Scale it up and you have a grid storage solution.

The science is done. What's left is engineering, including financial and legal engineering, so these findings can get into mass production in the shortest possible time.

(Probably an exaggeration of the situation, but who knows.)

More about the science:

James' bond: A graphene/nanotube hybrid

(Includes several photo links.)

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A thread about new developments using grapheme itself: Carbon Super Super Capacitor
Especially this article: Graphene supercapacitor breaks storage record - physicsworld.com

(Whereas my post above describes the combination of graphene with carbon nanotubes, "quantum wires".)

 

[Norbert]

(General carbon nanotubes research)

Combining info about the current state of research on metallic carbon nanotubes:
Essential armchair reading for nanotube researchers

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Another recent article, on "nanotech fibers" (with video), new developments in the area of carbon nanotubes:

New nanotech fiber: Robust handling, shocking performance

“We finally have a nanotube fiber with properties that don’t exist in any other material,” said lead researcher Matteo Pasquali, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and chemistry at Rice. “It looks like black cotton thread but behaves like both metal wires and strong carbon fibers.”

“The new CNT fibers have a thermal conductivity approaching that of the best graphite fibers but with 10 times greater electrical conductivity,” said study co-author Marcin Otto, business development manager at Teijin Aramid. “Graphite fibers are also brittle, while the new CNT fibers are as flexible and tough as a textile thread. We expect this combination of properties will lead to new products with unique capabilities for the aerospace, automotive, medical and smart-clothing markets.”

The fibers reported in Science have about 10 times the tensile strength and electrical and thermal conductivity of the best previously reported wet-spun CNT fibers, Pasquali said. The specific electrical conductivity of the new fibers is on par with copper, gold and aluminum wires, but the new material has advantages over metal wires.