What Happened to Carbon Nano Tubes?

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Ramboss

202 posts

Master Geek

#98961 9-Mar-2012 19:00

10 years ago when i first went to uni i first heard about these amazing things.

What happened to them?
Have they been used anywhere? or not economically sound? or maybe they just not as good as they pipped up to be.
Does any one know anything new about them?

tvninja

49 posts

Geek

#592883 9-Mar-2012 19:16

There is an article on Wikipedia about their many applications. Researchers are developing next gen computer chips that use nanotubes.

Ramboss

202 posts

Master Geek

#592891 9-Mar-2012 19:29

tvninja: There is an article on Wikipedia about their many applications. Researchers are developing next gen computer chips that use nanotubes.

As they were 10 years ago, are they no closer?

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#593011 9-Mar-2012 22:10

Last practical application I heard was special paint inside the big terrestrial telescopes as they gave a very dense black and allowed the telescope to capture more of the star light and less reflected terrestrial light.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

Ragnor

8219 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#593071 10-Mar-2012 01:52

What's New With Nanotech: A Presentation by Zyvex CEO Jim Von Ehr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZggI7ftAQ

Starts pretty slow but gets going through the middle and end iirc

compost

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#593093 10-Mar-2012 08:54

Ramboss: 10 years ago when i first went to uni i first heard about these amazing things.

What happened to them?
Have they been used anywhere? or not economically sound? or maybe they just not as good as they pipped up to be.
Does any one know anything new about them?

10 years is not a lot of time to convert basic research into commercially viable applications...which is maybe why it's generally only megacorps and governments that do this stuff.

So probably best not to expect to see a keynote like "Today we're announcing the Nanotube 2 - thinner, stronger, and you can now get it in graphite and charcoal colours"

Edit: correction - Nanotube 2 is out already, but was rebadged Graphene. Bloody branding eh.

A time-poor geek is hardly a geek at all