It might look like a roll of chicken wire, but this tiny cylinder of carbon atoms -- too small to see with the naked eye -- could one day be used for making electronic devices ranging from night vision goggles and motion detectors to more efficient solar cells, thanks to techniques developed by researchers at Duke University.
What makes carbon nanotubes special are their remarkable properties. These tiny cylinders are stronger than steel, and yet so thin that 50,000 of them would equal the thickness of a human hair. The effect is reversible, they found. Wrapping the nanotube in a polymer changes its electronic properties from a conductor to a semiconductor. But if the nanotube is unwrapped, it goes back to its original metallic state.
Practical applications of the method are likely far off."We're a long way from making devices," Therien said. Or take solar cells: this technique could be used to make nanotube semiconductors that convert a broader range of wavelengths into electricity, to harness more of the Sun's energy.
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