Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New Threadlike Carbon Nanotube Fiber Unveiled

Posted by samzenpus on from the threads-that-bind dept.

Zothecula writes "At about 100 times the strength of steel and a sixth the weight, with impressive electrical conductive properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have promised much since their discovery in 1991. The problem has been translating their impressive nanoscale properties into real-world applications on the macro scale. Researchers have now unveiled a new CNT fiber that conducts heat and electricity like a metal wire, is very strong like carbon fiber, and is flexible like a textile thread."

2 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Awesome! by Conspiracy_Of_Doves · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When do we start building the space elevator?

    --

    Technoli
    1. Re:Awesome! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      TFA says it's as strong as carbon fiber, which suggests that they couldn't translate the strenght of nanotubes into macroscale perfectly.

      The common claim that CNTs are "100 times the strength of steel" is basically baloney. Sure, they are that strong at the molecular level. But at the molecular level, even iron-iron bonds are far stronger than steel. If we ever figure out how to control the structure of materials so that the strength of individual chemical bonds is preserved in bulk materials, then we would not only have stronger carbon fibers, but we would also have stronger steel.