Buckypaper

Well here is another new class of material, this time in thin sheet form. The properties look amazing even more so then Nanotube Ribbons! Apparently this material is 10 times lighter then steel as well as being 250 times stronger! Of course it has all the other attributes that have made Nanotubes the darling of the Material Science world.

www.spacedaily.com...

I can already see entire spacecraft made of this stuff further reducing launch costs as well as superstrong body armor and who knows what other applications this stuff will have.

Too bad the costs are probably enormous and the ability to make it on a large scale is 10 years away.

Originally posted by Protector
Too bad the costs are probably enormous and the ability to make it on a large scale is 10 years away.

I'd stop making predictions in this field if I were you, I've been wrong every time it's happening MUCH faster then I or anyone anticipated. I wouldn't be surprised if tomarrow a press release annouces cheap mass production of Nanotubes Of course I won't be holding my breath either.

The first applications will most likely be in some paper-thin displey or something similiar. Not much CNT's required for an application like that.

It looks amazing, but hold off on your expectations until this 'buckypaper' is actually produces. Working on applications for this material and working on the material are two separate fields.

Looks to me like something that's merely an alternative to carbon fiber, IF it's better at all. No big deal.

[edit on 27-10-2005 by Simon666]

Can Carbon fiber conduct heat/electricity?

Originally posted by sardion2000
Can Carbon fiber conduct heat/electricity?

Only in the form of graphite can carbon conduct electricity and carbon in the form of a diamond can conduct heat.

[edit on 27-10-2005 by Frosty]

Originally posted by sardion2000
Can Carbon fiber conduct heat/electricity?

Yes.

Originally posted by Frosty
Only in the form of graphite can carbon conduct electricity and carbon in the form of a diamond can conduct heat.

Carbon fibers have a graphitic structure and graphite also conducts heat reasonably well, although not as good as diamond. Further, diamond, if doped, can be a semiconductor and hence conduct electricity. Some have proposed of using diamond instead of silicium for semiconductors due to its good heat related properties.

Originally posted by Simon666

Originally posted by sardion2000
Can Carbon fiber conduct heat/electricity?

Yes.

Originally posted by Frosty
Only in the form of graphite can carbon conduct electricity and carbon in the form of a diamond can conduct heat.

Carbon fibers have a graphitic structure and graphite also conducts heat reasonably well, although not as good as diamond. Further, diamond, if doped, can be a semiconductor and hence conduct electricity. Some have proposed of using diamond instead of silicium for semiconductors due to its good heat related properties.

Yes, because diamonds are so easily molded and accesible which makes them even cheaper than silicon. I'm sure some computers (experimental) may be fitted with it but for the time being, a long time, I think silicon is here to stay.

What do you mean by doped? Adding another element to a diamond would not make it pure carbon as it was before, surely this is not what you mean.

Originally posted by Frosty
Yes, because diamonds are so easily molded and accesible which makes them even cheaper than silicon.

I'm sure some computers (experimental) may be fitted with it but for the time being, a long time, I think silicon is here to stay.

With chemical vapor deposition techniques, you can easily manufacture diamond layers of (a few) micrometers thick. This technique is pretty cheap. It's not like you need to manufacture an entire diamond in a high pressure anvil and then saw it to fine slices. Diamond semiconductor chips have also been made already. I also didn't say silicon would go away.

Originally posted by Frosty
What do you mean by doped? Adding another element to a diamond would not make it pure carbon as it was before, surely this is not what you mean.

Pure diamond doesn't exist, all of them contain small amounts of trace elements.

The number of dopant atoms needed to create a difference in the ability of a semiconductor to conduct is very small. Where a comparatively small number of dopant atoms are added (of the order of 1 every 100,000,000 atoms) then the doping is said to be low, or light. Where many more are added (of the order of 1 in 10,000) then the doping is referred to as heavy, or high.
en.wikipedia.org...

So it would still chemically be pretty much diamond and have all the associated heat conducting qualities.

[edit on 28-10-2005 by Simon666]

Frosty here is an article that talks about new CVD techniques.

www.wired.com...

Aron Weingarten brings the yellow diamond up to the stainless steel jeweler's loupe he holds against his eye. We are in Antwerp, Belgium, in Weingarten's marbled and gilded living room on the edge of the city's gem district, the center of the diamond universe. Nearly 80 percent of the world's rough and polished diamonds move through the hands of Belgian gem traders like Weingarten, a dealer who wears the thick beard and black suit of the Hasidim.

"This is very rare stone," he says, almost to himself, in thickly accented English. "Yellow diamonds of this color are very hard to find. It is probably worth 10, maybe 15 thousand dollars."

"I have two more exactly like it in my pocket," I tell him.

He puts the diamond down and looks at me seriously for the first time. I place the other two stones on the table. They are all the same color and size. To find three nearly identical yellow diamonds is like flipping a coin 10,000 times and never seeing tails.

"These are cubic zirconium?" Weingarten says without much hope.

"No, they're real," I tell him. "But they were made by a machine in Florida for less than a hundred dollars."

It's Russian technology too surprisingly.

I think silicon is here to stay.

I doubt it. We are nearing the limits of Silicon computing.

[edit on 28-10-2005 by sardion2000]

I saw something about this today in our FSU newsletter...

Apparently research is going on with this material a hop skip and jump away from my office...

Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies

Pretty incredible, from my limited viewpoint...

Just figured I'd share the link

Originally posted by sardion2000
I can already see entire spacecraft made of this stuff further reducing launch costs as well as superstrong body armor and who knows what other applications this stuff will have.

Spacecraft? Launch cost? Heck no, haven't you heard that they are getting research and funding together to build a space elevator?

www.space.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink">The Space Elevator Comes Closer to Reality
LiftPort Group – The Space Elevator Companies

To anyone who isn't familiar with the concept of a space tether/elevator, imagine getting a rope and weight far enough into space so that the earth's rotation would keep the rope taut with centrifugal force. It would be similar to swinging a yoyo around your head, but with a much longer string.

Our grandkids might be sitting around saying "Can you believe they used to use rockets to get to space?"



[edit on 8/11/2005 by Seth76]

Yes I'm quite familiar with the Space Elevator. I've posted more then a few threads related to the Elevator. Here is the lastest.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

There is still many problems left and won't get built for at least 15 years at the very least. In the meantime we will still be using big 'ole rockets and incorporated into Aircraft and Spacecraft could cut down on launch costs and fuel costs by a significant margin.

Here is another thread that might interest you.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 8-11-2005 by sardion2000]

You can add K to C60 and create a better supeconductor. That is because metals have theconducting properties that nonmetals do not have.

I wonder if there is anyway for Li to be used in place of K in order to reduce weight. Anyone know? And does anyone know whether C60 has any commericial apllications?

As for the buckypaper, what is being worked on in terms of polymerizing this stuff?

You can add K to C60 and create a better supeconductor. That is because metals have theconducting properties that nonmetals do not have.

I wonder if there is anyway for Li to be used in place of K in order to reduce weight. Anyone know? And does anyone know whether C60 has any commericial apllications?

As for the buckypaper, what is being worked on in terms of polymerizing this stuff?

The orginal link posted about buckeypaper is good but it never actually says what it is? Is it a fabric or paper woven from carbon nano tubes? Is it a composite of nanotubes and some fiber or other material or is it bonded with some polymer or something?

Here is the site to the lab that created this substance, they will probably have more indepth stuff there.

www.fac2t.eng.fsu.edu...

taht stuff looks awsome, just hope the wrong hands dont' get a hold of it.

Originally posted by seeuathemovies
taht stuff looks awsome, just hope the wrong hands dont' get a hold of it.

I don't see how good it would do them, Nanotubes cost hundreds of dollars per gram atm for the high purity stuff(which applications like this would need)