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Bobster .
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 Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2003 12:17 am Post subject: Power to change the world |
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Powder with the power to transform the world-Nanotubes of boron nitride
Publication date: 21-November-2003
Source:Sydney Morning HeraldIn his Canberra laboratory, research
physicist Dr Ying Chen churns what looks like nothing more than dull,
grey powder. But far more precious than gold, the powder, says Dr Chen,
will change the world.
He believes it will open the way for making everything from
hydrogen-powered cars and the next generation of jetliners to wafer-thin
televisions and powerful computers so small you can slip them into your
pocket.
And, he says, the energy-efficient technology will help curb the world>s
craving for power.
Chen>s laboratory at the Research School of Physical Sciences and
Engineering, at the Australian National University, is the world>s only
commercial source of the extraordinary powder - nanotubes of boron
nitride (BN).
Gold dust ... Dr Ying Chen with 1.5 grams of boron nitride nanotubes,
worth about $840.
Photo: Andrew Taylor
Nanotubes are cylinders, just a billionth of a metre wide, that can be
assembled to create materials 10 times lighter and 100 times stronger
than steel.
Until about five years ago all nanotubes were carbon. Then it was found
that with lasers at extremely high temperatures they could also be made
in boron nitride. However, the process was expensive, producing just
grams at a time.
But Chen>s team has won an international race to revolutionise the
process, discovering how to make them with technology long used by
miners to crush rock. Instead of rock, the ANU "crushes" boron in
nitrogen gas.
"We can make kilograms," says Chen, a senior research fellow. "We are
leading the world in BN nanotube production."
Australia sells them to researchers in the US, Europe and Japan for $560
a gram. "The price will come down," Chen says. And when it does, the
impact will be huge. "There will be lots of applications, including new
super-strong composite materials for cars and aeroplanes."
Nanotubes would work like sponge to store hydrogen gas as fuel to run
cars. Golf clubs and tennis racquets of nanotubes would be almost
unbreakable.
"You could even build nanotube cables between the planets and use [them]
as a space elevator," says Chen. Interplanetary voyages would be reduced
to cable-car rides.
The team is also working on nanotube devices. IBM has produced a
nanotube transistor 500 times smaller than silicon transistors.
"Future computers using nanotube transistors and other devices will be
the size of mobile phones, but faster and more powerful [than desk-top
models]," says Chen. "Nanotube TVs will be thinner than plasma TVs, and
much sharper and brighter."
But with parts 5000 times thinner than a human hair, factory assembly
may be tricky. So Chen>s team is developing a method to "grow" nanotubes
in place, rather than install them.
"We can do this by first generating a vapour containing carbon and a
metal catalyst over a silicon wafer, and nanotubes are formed on
selected sites," he says.
"It is a new world," says Chen, predicting the nanotechnology revolution
- which will see products on the market withhin several years - will be
bigger than the one that followed the invention of semi-conductors.
"Nanotechnology will change our lives."
~
Bobster |
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Dr. Bob
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2003 9:11 am Post subject: Re: Power to change the world |
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"Bobster ." <bobster37@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:26972-3FBFFCB0-75@storefull-2315.public.lawson.webtv.net...
Powder with the power to transform the world-Nanotubes of boron nitride
Publication date: 21-November-2003
Source:Sydney Morning HeraldIn his Canberra laboratory, research
physicist Dr Ying Chen churns what looks like nothing more than dull,
grey powder. But far more precious than gold, the powder, says Dr Chen,
will change the world.
He believes it will open the way for making everything from
hydrogen-powered cars and the next generation of jetliners to wafer-thin
televisions and powerful computers so small you can slip them into your
pocket.
And, he says, the energy-efficient technology will help curb the world>s
craving for power.
Chen>s laboratory at the Research School of Physical Sciences and
Engineering, at the Australian National University, is the world>s only
commercial source of the extraordinary powder - nanotubes of boron
nitride (BN).
Gold dust ... Dr Ying Chen with 1.5 grams of boron nitride nanotubes,
worth about $840.
Photo: Andrew Taylor
Nanotubes are cylinders, just a billionth of a metre wide, that can be
assembled to create materials 10 times lighter and 100 times stronger
than steel.
Until about five years ago all nanotubes were carbon. Then it was found
that with lasers at extremely high temperatures they could also be made
in boron nitride. However, the process was expensive, producing just
grams at a time.
But Chen>s team has won an international race to revolutionise the
process, discovering how to make them with technology long used by
miners to crush rock. Instead of rock, the ANU "crushes" boron in
nitrogen gas.
"We can make kilograms," says Chen, a senior research fellow. "We are
leading the world in BN nanotube production."
Australia sells them to researchers in the US, Europe and Japan for $560
a gram. "The price will come down," Chen says. And when it does, the
impact will be huge. "There will be lots of applications, including new
super-strong composite materials for cars and aeroplanes."
Nanotubes would work like sponge to store hydrogen gas as fuel to run
cars. Golf clubs and tennis racquets of nanotubes would be almost
unbreakable.
"You could even build nanotube cables between the planets and use [them]
as a space elevator," says Chen. Interplanetary voyages would be reduced
to cable-car rides.
The team is also working on nanotube devices. IBM has produced a
nanotube transistor 500 times smaller than silicon transistors.
"Future computers using nanotube transistors and other devices will be
the size of mobile phones, but faster and more powerful [than desk-top
models]," says Chen. "Nanotube TVs will be thinner than plasma TVs, and
much sharper and brighter."
But with parts 5000 times thinner than a human hair, factory assembly
may be tricky. So Chen>s team is developing a method to "grow" nanotubes
in place, rather than install them.
"We can do this by first generating a vapour containing carbon and a
metal catalyst over a silicon wafer, and nanotubes are formed on
selected sites," he says.
"It is a new world," says Chen, predicting the nanotechnology revolution
- which will see products on the market withhin several years - will be
bigger than the one that followed the invention of semi-conductors.
"Nanotechnology will change our lives."
~
Bobster
Popular Science hype like the 1930>s flying car in every garage. Don>t hold
your breath, it>s going to be a long time if ever before nano-tubes become a
bulk commodity. Let>s have a link to a "real" scientific paper from Dr. Chen
that discusses his work and try to stay away from Popular Science BS.
Dr. Bob |
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