Green Options » carbon nanotubes http://greenoptions.com/tag/carbon-nanotubes Posts tagged 'carbon nanotubes' Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:35:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Rice University Cooks Up Nanotube Stew http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:35:27 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/ Rice University researchers develop a new method for bulk processing carbon nanotubes.

Researchers at Rice University have announced the discovery of a new breakthrough method for producing carbon nanotubes in bulk fluids.  Rice’s new nanotube “stew” could spur the inexpensive mass production of carbon nanotube-based products, much like the plastics industry employed bulk loads of melted polymers as a cheap base for making everything from medical equipment to polyester shirts to plastic bags, and countless other things in between.

Rice’s nanotube research was sponsored in party by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.  Aside from their military application, carbon nanotubes have a practically unlimited potential for sustainable civilian products because of their strength, light weight, and electrical conductivity among other properties. Lightweight nanomaterials could boost the gas mileage in cars and airplanes, make thinner and more flexible solar cells, increase the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries (in combination with another new high tech material, graphene), and be used in artificial photosynthesis to generate hydrogen fuel.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/feed/ Artificial Photosynthesis to Generate Hydrogen Gets $1.4 Million Funding From DOE http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/19/artificial-photosynthesis-to-generate-hydrogen-gets-14-million-funding-from-doe/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/19/artificial-photosynthesis-to-generate-hydrogen-gets-14-million-funding-from-doe/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:23:26 +0000 Susan Kraemer http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/19/artificial-photosynthesis-to-generate-hydrogen-gets-14-million-funding-from-doe/
A University of Rochester team has been awarded $1.7 million to generate hydrogen fuel with sunlight using artificial photosynthesis and nanotubes. Generating hydrogen without using a fossil fuel is not easy. Using sunlight to split hydrogen off from water has been done before, but the process has not been cheap or efficient.

They propose to change that by dividing the nanoscale process into three separate modules that can be manipulated separately to isolate the process of gathering sunlight from the process of generating hydrogen.

This way they can better control each step.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/19/artificial-photosynthesis-to-generate-hydrogen-gets-14-million-funding-from-doe/feed/ Graphene Emerging as the Miracle Material of the New Millenium http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/26/graphene-emerging-as-the-miracle-material-of-the-new-millenium/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/26/graphene-emerging-as-the-miracle-material-of-the-new-millenium/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:24:05 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/26/graphene-emerging-as-the-miracle-material-of-the-new-millenium/ This scanning electron microscope image shows graphene nanoribbons that are 22 nanometers wide between the middle electrode pair.Move over, silicon: graphene is ready for its closeup.  Discovered just a few years ago, graphene is a sheet of graphite the thickness of just one atom.  It can be processed like silicon to make electronic devices, which makes it easier to manipulate than the current “it” material, carbon nanotubes.  Without the breakdown problems that beset silicon at the nanoscale, graphene is bringing the dream of a molecule-sized computer closer to reality.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/06/26/graphene-emerging-as-the-miracle-material-of-the-new-millenium/feed/ Will Cool Cars of the Future be Made of Buckypaper? It’s Five Hundred Times Stronger than Steel (and Ten Times Lighter) http://gas2.org/2008/10/28/will-cool-cars-of-the-future-be-made-of-buckypaper-its-five-hundred-times-stronger-than-steel-and-ten-times-lighter/ http://gas2.org/2008/10/28/will-cool-cars-of-the-future-be-made-of-buckypaper-its-five-hundred-times-stronger-than-steel-and-ten-times-lighter/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:55:24 +0000 Lucille Chi http://gas2.org/2008/10/28/will-cool-cars-of-the-future-be-made-of-buckypaper-its-five-hundred-times-stronger-than-steel-and-ten-times-lighter/

Buckypaper is a material composed of carbon nanotubes. It is 10 times lighter and over 500 times stronger than steel and the “buckytubes” that make it up are 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. It is predicted by futurists that this material will storm the auto and aviation industries.

One of the best ways to make transportation vehicles more energy efficient is to reduce their weight, so the commercialization of buckypaper promises lighter, super efficient and much stronger vehicles.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2008/10/28/will-cool-cars-of-the-future-be-made-of-buckypaper-its-five-hundred-times-stronger-than-steel-and-ten-times-lighter/feed/ Samsung Demonstrates World’s First Carbon-Nanotube Based Display http://cleantechnica.com/2008/10/22/samsung-demonstrates-worlds-first-carbon-nanotube-based-display/ http://cleantechnica.com/2008/10/22/samsung-demonstrates-worlds-first-carbon-nanotube-based-display/#comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:27:26 +0000 Ariel Schwartz http://cleantechnica.com/2008/10/22/samsung-demonstrates-worlds-first-carbon-nanotube-based-display/

Samsung unveiled the world’s first carbon nanotube color active matrix electrophoretic display (EPD) e-paper recently at a conference in Korea. The 14.3 inch e-paper display is the product of a partnership between Samsung and Unidym, the company that developed the carbon nanotubes used by the device.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2008/10/22/samsung-demonstrates-worlds-first-carbon-nanotube-based-display/feed/ The Solar Cube: A Solar and Wind Powered Water Source for Remote Areas http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/22/the-solar-cube-a-solar-and-wind-powered-water-source-for-remote-areas/ http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/22/the-solar-cube-a-solar-and-wind-powered-water-source-for-remote-areas/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:58:57 +0000 Ariel Schwartz http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/22/the-solar-cube-a-solar-and-wind-powered-water-source-for-remote-areas/ solar cube

Carbon nanotubes may be the water filter wave of the future, but Spectra Watermakers’ Solar Cube works pretty well in the meantime.

The Cube (AKA the Spectra Solar Brackish Water System) is a portable solar and wind powered desalination unit that can produce 950 to 1500 gallons of fresh water each day. Attached photovoltaic cells generate up to 1240 watts, while the wind generator can produce up to 1000 watts.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/22/the-solar-cube-a-solar-and-wind-powered-water-source-for-remote-areas/feed/ Carbon Nanotubes Might Be Used in Future Water Filters http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/15/carbon-nanotubes-might-be-used-in-future-water-filters/ http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/15/carbon-nanotubes-might-be-used-in-future-water-filters/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:06:09 +0000 Ariel Schwartz http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/15/carbon-nanotubes-might-be-used-in-future-water-filters/ water
Nanotechnology seems to be invading all facets of modern life, from the pills you take to the batteries that power your iPod. Pretty soon, carbon nanotubes may even filter your water.

Researchers at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in India are investigating the hollow carbon fibers as a potential water filter. They believe the unique chemical properties of nanotubes mean that only water molecules can pass through their interiors, while toxic metal ions, viruses, and bacteria cannot.

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