Korean scientists develop thinnest carbon-nanotube
Korea Herald
2005.10.21
By Cho Chung-un
(christory@heraldm.com)
Korean and U.S. scientists have succeeded in developing the world's thinnest and longest carbon-nanotube, a cylinder-shaped arrangement of molecules invisible to the naked eye.
The development was achieved by joint research teams at Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology and Columbia University in the United States.
Nanotechnology research is the creation of objects that can only be measured in nanometers - a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. It has huge potential to build a new generation of chips, computers and smart gadgets thousands of times more powerful than those used today, but which use far less electricity.
The technology could be used some day to deliver the processing power of desktop computers into wristwatches, mobile phones or an ultra-thin, wearable computing system.
The two nation team also succeeded in measuring the electronic properties of the extremely narrow single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and found that, out of 20 samples, all were metallic while none demonstrated semi-conducting properties, according to the science journal Nature.
Led by a chemistry professor, Kim Kwang-soo of POSTECH, the joint team discovered how to produce thinner carbon nanotubes by simply tugging the core thread from within the multilayered structure causing the nanotube to stretch. Conventional shell-by-shell extraction exposes nanotube cores using chemical or electrical modification of the outer shells.
Using the needle tip of an atomic force microscope, Korean scientists succeeded in pulling out the core tubes from inside the multiwalled nanotubes (MWNTs) - a process similar to removing the heart of an onion from within its layers. They extracted 1 millimeter extra, 1,000 times longer than the previous record measurement of 1 micrometer.
Nature reported on its website that "this telescoping extension means that the nanotubes can be reeled out over a very long distance, (possibly) more than 10 centimeters."
The research has been supported by the Creative Research Initiative of Korea Science and Engineering Foundation, and Brain Korea 21, a government-led program supporting the nation's technological advances. |
