#1 - Buckypaper: super strong and super light
Florida State University researchers have developed a new kind of material made out of carbon nanotubes that promises to be 10 times lighter than steel of the same thickness and potentially 500 times stronger! Nanotubes have been manufactured for years, but this is the first time someone has assembled them into a sheet.
Each tube is 50,000 times smaller than a human hair but extremely strong. Buckpaper is made like paper except, instead of wood fibers, it is made up of layers of nanofibers. Of course, we are just at the beginning, but, just like computer chips, once we figure out how to make it, it will improve dramatically.
Think of the impact of a material made out of a highly abundant material--carbon that is so light and strong. Airplanes, bridges, buildings, cars--all will be stronger and lighter. For cars and planes, it means much less fuel needed to go from point A to point B. For buildings, it means cheaper foundations, or much taller buildings. And safer, lighter, longer-lasting bridges. Just when we were worrying about the cost of iron ore, along comes Buckypaper which could make steel, if not obsolete, used a lot less than it is now.
Category: MATERIALS
Google Search: buckypaper
or http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/10/17/buckypaper-material.html
Source: Discovery Channel - Discovery News
Joel Barker's Good News Blog
at the Global Dialogue Center
Nice innovations for technology...
Thank you so much for sharing this post!
Posted by: Mark Pen | 02/27/2019 at 09:48 PM
This is a great innovation....
Posted by: Tony Blames | 02/27/2019 at 09:43 PM
Thanks a lot for sharing this innovation of technology.
Posted by: Jeff Grande | 02/27/2019 at 09:41 PM
This is a good invention. Thanks to the no ending advancement and innovation of technology. Now, there are more reasons to celebrate for this buckypaper.
Posted by: car hire perth | 01/02/2012 at 05:36 PM
Hola Joel! we are a group of graduates from Money & You and some of us are taking the Instructors Training Program.
Jane Jordan referred me to your blog and I found it fascinating!
I want to ask you this: Please share your articles on our group discussion board; I started this group last night out of lateral thought and want more people in the world to learn about Bucky's work... simply its TOO GOOD to keep to ourselves!
What do you say?
Add me on facebook with this e mail:
[email protected]
Looking forward to supporting you too
Love,
Giselle from Peru living in Singapore
Posted by: Giselle Gianella | 05/30/2010 at 09:06 PM
Always good to see science advancing. However, there is a slight correction. Buckypaper was being created in the Smalley Lab at Rice University for almost a decade. Aligned sheets of carbon nanotubes were used for both my MS (2002) and PhD (2004) theses while I was studying under Richard E. Smalley.
I am hopeful that the FSU group, and their peers across the world, will continue to find new and wonderful ways to produce commercially viable solutions with carbon nanotubes.
Posted by: Michael J. Casavant | 01/27/2009 at 08:55 AM
Heard you on Coast to Coast the other night. I found your ideas very interesting. Have been pondering a way to build a manufacturing business in my old hometown in NW Iowa, along with my brother-in-law in FL, who is also an engineer at NASA.
We have enver specifically nailed down just what we'd like to do. What are your ideas on the conceivability of using Buckypaper for semi-trailers? Would it be better to use as a wrap, or as the material itself for the box trailers??
How would one find out more about getting access to this type of material and funding for such a venture? A reply to my personal email listed for this post would be fine as well. Thank you, and again, great show the other night!
-Mike
Posted by: Mike Lovell | 01/05/2009 at 07:49 AM