The future’s bright; the future’s nanoscale

Alan Windle, Prof of Materials Science at Cambridge, gave a spirited lecture on the nature, properties and production of carbon nanotubes after the Cambridge and Great Eastern Regional Group AGM in April. Nanotubes are truly a ‘Cinderella’ technology — these beautiful molecules have been identified in ordinary soot. The extraordinary properties of such a common by-product of the classical industrial and pre-industrial ages have only now begun to be fully explored.

There are many different types of carbon nanotubes, depending on the topology of the carbon atom distribution in the individual layers, and the number of concentric shells (rather like the layers of an onion). The key to rapid future development is likely to be improved synthetic routes. The current processes generate mixtures of different types, which must be carefully fractionated. This is fine for scientific discovery and pure research, but it is difficult to expand to high volume mass-production. Alan also described his team's collaboration with the manufacturing facility built by Thomas Swan & Co in County Durham, which can produce kilograms of nanotubes per day.

The existing and future uses of these fascinating materials includes polymer composites, electromagnetic shielding, electron field emitters, super capacitors, batteries, hydrogen storage, nanoprobes, structural nanocomposites, nano-fabrication of structures, and even nanoscale quantum computers. It has even been suggested that a carbon nanotube cable would be sufficiently strong and light to tether a geo-stationary satellite, creating the possibility of a ‘space elevator’.

Alan's infectious enthusiasm for the subject was matched by the interest shown in the lively Q&A session and private discussions afterwards.