New Threadlike Carbon Nanotube Fiber Unveiled

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New Threadlike Carbon Nanotube Fiber Unveiled

Posted by samzenpus on Monday January 14, 2013 @04:42AM 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."

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Make a white suit out of it by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-14 04:45 · Score: 4, Interesting

They'd never allow it.
1. Re:Make a white suit out of it by ArcadeMan · 2013-01-14 04:57 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  The parent is probably referring to this movie.
  
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2. Re:Make a white suit out of it by Coisiche · 2013-01-14 04:59 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Presumably AC is referencing the film but the vanity of people is such that if some fibre allowed permanently enduring clothes they would still want new ones; there will always be a desirable new ironic slogan for a t-shirt.
  Now indestructible clothes with a programmable visual component... one would probably do me.
3. Re:Make a white suit out of it by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-01-14 05:33 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  There are probably niche exceptions; but in most of clothing it's been quite some time since disrepair, rather than disuse, has been the driving factor behind consumption.
  Even relatively easy and low-tech techniques like 'patching' and 'darning' and assorted flavors of mending have fallen out of fashion, and those aren't exactly the height of material science...
Awesome! by Conspiracy_Of_Doves · 2013-01-14 04:54 · Score: 5, Insightful

When do we start building the space elevator?

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1. Re:Awesome! by ShanghaiBill · 2013-01-14 05:26 · 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.
2. Re:Awesome! by crunchygranola · 2013-01-14 05:50 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  ... 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.
  It is a special case, but we do have well know examples of how to do this. They are crystals, which are atomically ordered on the macroscale. The manifestation of the strength inherent in the carbon-carbon bond on the macroscale is what bestows upon diamonds their remarkable properties. Single crystal macroscopic parts are manufactured in metallurgy also (turbine blades).
  
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3. Re:Awesome! by vlm · 2013-01-14 05:52 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Whoops I forgot to explain why and only placed an imperial command, not sure how I got +5 unless you guys have ESP. The reason why is:
  Weird design with known material = Success, mostly
  Known design with weird material = Success, mostly
  Weird design with weird material = Epic Fail, mostly
  Figure out whats wrong with the design using "old fashioned" kevlar then once the design is all debugged whip out the magic threads and try a known good design with weird new material.
  
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  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
4. Re:Awesome! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-01-14 06:14 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The classier fibreglass suppliers usually have Kevlar, carbon-fiber, and sometimes aramid(or various mixtures of the above) in woven sheets.
  More expensive than basic fibreglass; but sometimes you just need the extra strength and/or butch aesthetics.
  If your plan involves less boating and more getting shot, ballistic-grade kevlar fabrics are also pretty easily available.
Re:"100 times the strength" by ArcadeMan · 2013-01-14 04:59 · Score: 5, Funny

They gave a line made of CNT to birds to see if they were able to carry a coconut with it.

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far below the strength of aerospace carbon fiber by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-14 05:01 · Score: 4, Informative

The published ultimate tensile strengths of the CNT fibers in this work is well below that of aerospace-grade carbon fiber. They have a big gap to bridge before the CNTs can be of any use for building airplanes, let alone space elevators. Not saying that it can't be accomplished, but that this not yet a major breakthrough.
Re:How strong? by SuricouRaven · 2013-01-14 05:01 · Score: 4, Informative

Probably not... but copper and aluminium are finite resources. Sooner or later, we'll run out. Carbon, on the other hand, we have no shortage of.
Re:How strong? by ShanghaiBill · 2013-01-14 05:17 · Score: 5, Informative

Probably not... but copper and aluminium are finite resources. Sooner or later, we'll run out. Carbon, on the other hand, we have no shortage of.
Actually, in the Earth's crust, aluminum is more common than carbon by a factor of about 200. Only oxygen and silicon are more common. Source.
Re:Journalists are scienticians by mark-t · 2013-01-14 05:31 · Score: 4, Informative

A strand of DNA is about 2 nanometers wide... does that help?

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Re:How strong? by vlm · 2013-01-14 05:39 · Score: 4, Interesting

Actually, in the Earth's crust, aluminum is more common than carbon by a factor of about 200. Only oxygen and silicon are more common. Source.
Talk to a chemEng about the nightmare of aluminium refining. Its not just that the hall process takes a lot of electricity mostly from burning coal, but it only works with alumina. You gotta run raw bauxite thru the Bayer process which is a whole nother PITA to pre-refine it before it hits the electrochemical cells as alumina. Most bauxite comes from Australia and Brazil, and there's only a "couple centuries worth" and then thats it for bauxite, so aside from recycling it'll be back to the old days before the Hall process where Aluminum was basically a precious metal. Aluminum really is a huge unholy pain in the ass to refine into usable metal.
Its kinda like nitrogen. Plants REALLY need nitrogen. But we all live in a great seemingly infinite pool of nitrogen gas, you say so whats the problem. Yeah but biochemically its a PITA to use N2 straight outta the air, so it (mostly) doesn't happen. Leading to all kinds of chemEng foolishness with ammonia and nitrogen fixing bacteria on legumes etc etc.
Having some atoms laying around doesn't mean they're convenient to use, or practical to use, or possible to use.

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Re:Monster Cable by JeanCroix · 2013-01-14 05:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

The question isn't whether this stuff is strong enough or conductive enough, it's whether it's expensive enough to be used in Monster cables.
Re:Dammit by fahrbot-bot · 2013-01-14 06:11 · Score: 4, Funny

Now I can't buy any cables till they replace them with this. Damn you, technology.
Don't worry, I'm sure Monster will be selling gold-plated versions of these, at a reasonable price, soon.

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Nice acronym by Russ1642 · 2013-01-14 06:30 · Score: 4, Funny

Are these going to be called CNT Hairs?