Carbon nanotube/wires now possible on an industrial scale?

[FAST6191]

A few days late on the uptake it seems but I will go it anyway.
Some folks over at Rice University claim to have a process that could spit out carbon nanotubes/nanowires in something resembling an industrial quantity and as an added bonus it does not seem to require anything overly exotic to pull off (though still not stuff you will probably be making in your kitchen any time soon).

Carbon nanotubes have repeatedly cropped up in science journals over the years (or indeed millennia if you follow various developments in archaeometallurgy) as their potential is huge, the trouble has traditionally been in creating tubes of sufficient length and purity (at various points single walled carbon nanotubes were considerably more costly that even the priciest diamonds, today they are somewhat comparable).

The team at Rice University seem somewhat focused on the implications for electrical devices though they do not downplay the options for other areas where nanotubes could be very useful.

One video released with the press statement


Source for some of this. The statement linked at the start has quite a bit more as well.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/14/carbon_nanotube_threads_spun/

 

[Deleted User]

cool

 

[Gahars]

cool

Don't you mean nano-tubular?

 

[retKHAAAN]

Don't you mean nano-tubular?

A little redundant. nanotube is most certainly tubular in shape...

 

[dickfour]

Good, now I know what to do with my compost pile

 

[Deleted User]

Don't you mean nano-tubular?

uhh.....sure? if you say so

 

[raulpica]

Damn punners!

Anyway, looks way more than cool. This will be a true revolution for the new electronic devices Smaller wires = smaller appliances.

 

[Issac]

Damn punners!

Anyway, looks way more than cool. This will be a true revolution for the new electronic devices Smaller wires = smaller appliances.

I see what you did there

heh.. nice to see progress like this

 

[Jamstruth]

As a soon to be Electrical Engineer I look forward to this. High strength, light, conductive wires? Depending on the voltage they can hold and the relative resistance it could replace copper in a lot of places.

 

[Wizerzak]

Damn punners!

Yeah they just keeping spooling out they same crap over and over again... these threads shouldn't be allowed to be abused like this.

 

[pasc]

Neat.

Offtopic: FAST when will your Walrus return ?

 

[PolloDiablo]

I can see the indian with the gold shirt wanting one made of this

 

[Rockhoundhigh]

Haven't these things been labeled as toxic already, I mean I know the tests are still very preliminary but everyone seems to go insane over these before considering the fact that nobody really knows for sure if they have long term health implications or not.

 

[ferofax]

You guys! Hey! Hey! Hey guys! Hey!

...you seem to be forgetting cost. They are comparably priced to diamonds. Diamonds! Imagine diamonds in your electronics. Imagine the cost!

Yeah! Gold Shirt Indian is onto something here! Carbon nanotube fiber underwear, to soak in even the last drops. Something no other material have done before!

 

[Sterling]

You guys! Hey! Hey! Hey guys! Hey!

...you seem to be forgetting cost. They are comparably priced to diamonds. Diamonds! Imagine diamonds in your electronics. Imagine the cost!

Yeah! Gold Shirt Indian is onto something here! Carbon nanotube fiber underwear, to soak in even the last drops. Something no other material have done before!

They'll come down in price. I remember talk about using yellow diamonds to make high heat resistant computer processors. They have come down in price massively now that we have the tech to "mass" manufacture yellow diamonds.

 

[ferofax]

They'll come down in price. I remember talk about using yellow diamonds to make high heat resistant computer processors. They have come down in price massively now that we have the tech to "mass" manufacture yellow diamonds.

Yes, but nobody's sure if it's any time soon though. Until then, they're diamonds!

 

[Jan1tor]

Mass production will make them come down in price. Hell I remember my first CD Burner (still have it) a $5000.00 Smart and Friendly SCSI cd rom burner (non rewriteable) in a caddy. You can get a better one now for $20 bucks.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Haven't these things been labeled as toxic already, I mean I know the tests are still very preliminary but everyone seems to go insane over these before considering the fact that nobody really knows for sure if they have long term health implications or not.

Yeah I used to strip copper wire with my teeth... (yeah yeah I know naughty naughty...) but I wouldn't put this stuff in my mouth.

I suspect what it will end up being like is fiber glass in what it does to the body the little microscopic threads that never break up causing all kinds of nasty things inside the body. But if you handle it safely you should be fine.

 

[Sterling]

Yeah I used to strip copper wire with my teeth... (yeah yeah I know naughty naughty...) but I wouldn't put this stuff in my mouth.

I suspect what it will end up being like is fiber glass in what it does to the body the little microscopic threads that never break up causing all kinds of nasty things inside the body. But if you handle it safely you should be fine.

I've heard some places call it a modern asbestos. Well, I don't think the material is going to be used in similar applications, but the dangers are real enough.

 

[BORTZ]

Very interesting. The potential here is great, but I'm not sure how good this version of tubes is. I mean I'm sure they are great but they need some refinement.