Nanotubes are rolled up sheets of carbon atoms measuring just one atom thick. These single-wall tubes are unusually sensitive to nearby molecules, researchers say. At Stanford University, scientists discovered that a carbon nanotube network can detect the presence of underwater toxins or explosions. Mark Roberts, a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia National Laboratories explains, “By combining our nanotube self-sorting deposition process with our ultra thin, cross-linked polymer dielectric [insulator] formulation, we’ve enabled underwater, nanotube-based chemical sensors.” This is just one of the exciting studies being done.

Researchers have discovered that carbon nanotubes in mass quantities can have a number of vital nanotechnology applications. Using large nanotube sheets, these nano-sized superstars can conduct electricity, emit light or heat, absorb solar power, create more flexible surfaces, provide even light distribution and strengthen sails. “When you have a remarkable material, it’s easy to make advances in terms of applications,” said head researcher Ray Baughman at the University of Texas, Dallas. Truly, carbon nano tubes are the way of the future.

To create a string of nanotubes, scientists assemble trillions of strings of individual carbon nano tubes, which are comprised of cylindrical sheets of carbon atoms. In the past, nano sheets were made much like paper is made, by filtering solutions full of nano tubes, peeling the nanomaterials off and letting them dry for a week. Today, lab workers can grow nano forests of bundles stacked vertically, drawing numerous tiny tubes to sheets of duct tape, producing seven meters of sheets per minute. Ray Baughman explains: “A trillion nano tubes must be automatically rotated by about 90 degrees and self-assembled in a parallel fashion for every meter-long, 7 centimeter-wide sheet that we make.”

In the future, researchers believe that nanotubes may be able to help electronic devices repair their own circuitry. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientists says that a crack in the circuitry could trigger capsules of carbon tubes that will effectively bridge the gap. The real benefit would likely not be seen in laptops, cell phones or iPods so much as submarines, satellites and space shuttle systems. PopSci Magazine reports other “self-healing” materials on the horizon may include rubber, concrete and paint.

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