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- Economic development for the 2
- 21st century technology, digital
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Strain Paint and Self-Healing Paint
Of the many other potential applications of carbon nanotubes in energy, construction materials, clothing and body armor, one of the most fascinating is “strain paint” that can reveal weakness in metal structures. Researchers at University of Strathclyde, in Scotland, and Rice University in Houston developed in 2012 carbon nanotube paint that can identify microscopic faults arising from stress or fatigue in materials in buildings, bridges and aircraft. The Rice version of strain paint is a varnish like substance which displays fluorescence in infrared light. Each nanotube in the paint would undergo equivalent strain as the surface is painted. A handheld infrared spectrometers reads out the degree of strain in the structure.
A related application is self-healing paint. Nanomaterials have been developed for use as self-healing coatings for metals. Also, nanomaterials are being used as anti-barnacle coatings for ships hulls, with obvious implications for ship speed and energy conservation.
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Nanofibers
Nanoparticles are already in widespread use in the clothing industry, for example to repel water and prevent stains. Now, a small amount of nanotube sheets has been developed that can be used to produce porous multifunctional yarns that are weavable, flexible and durable, and which also allow energy storage. This technology may be utilized to make yarns of superconductors, lithium-ion battery materials and catalytic nanofibers for fuel cells (Science, Jan. 7, 2011).
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Nanomaterials with Viscoelastic Properties
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High Temperature Rubber
One of the remarkable properties of carbon nanotubes is their viscoelastic behavior over a wide temperature range. (
Science , Dec. 3, 2010). An example of a viscous item is honey. Viscoelasticity, among other properties, enables a material to dissipate energy, and also reversibly deform through elasticity (like a rubber band). Viscoelasticity is what allows polymer foam earplugs to adapt to any ear channel. Several other types of materials, such as amorphous polymers and a few metallic alloys exhibit viscoelasticity.
Materials made from carbon nanotubes display a very special type of viscoelasticity. Unlike rubber, which deforms permanently under very high temperatures, a mixture of several types of nanotubes (SWNT, DWNT, TWNT) yields a material that can recover its original shape after exposure to a very wide range of temperatures (as high as 1400°C for some mixtures and 300°C for others). (Reference coming).
These nanotube rubbers may soon be incorporated in such uses as wrinkle-free textiles, viscoelastic shoes and even in space vehicles that are constantly exposed to a very wide range of variable temperatures.
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Viscoelasticity Sponges
A scientist at Rice University has developed a nanomaterial made of carbon nanotubes doped with boron that can be utilized as a super-absorber of oil spills. The sponge repels water, but strongly attracts oil. It has an important property that makes it useful in Artic as well as warm waters it displays temperature invariant viscoelasticity. Even in Artic waters the oil can be easily extracted from the sponge, which can be reused (see Hashim et. al.
Scientific Reports , Vol. 2, Article #363, April 13, 2012).
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Graphenes
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of Manchester University were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for their 2004 ground-breaking experiments on the electrical properties of graphene, a carbon material that has the thickness of
one atom. In the past eight years, the properties of graphene have been utilized to make possible major advances not only in electronic but other technologies as well. (
Science , Oct. 8, 2010). A very important property of graphene is its two-dimensional nature. Because of this property, electrons in graphene travel through it
as if they had no mass (much like photons).
Graphene exhibits unusual and sometimes antithetical or even paradoxical behavior. It is flexible like rubber, but is stronger than diamonds. It is transparent like glass but conducts electricity better than metal. New potential uses of graphene are announced almost monthly. They are already utilized in touch screens. Researchers at IBM have made ultrafast transistors from graphene. Graphenes may prove useful in sequencing DNA.
We will consider other graphene applications below.
Source:
OpenStax, Economic development for the 21st century. OpenStax CNX. Jun 05, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11747/1.12
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