Breakthrough discovery shows carbon nanotubes could change thermal technology
Scientists at MIT have uncovered a previously unknown thermal phenomeon known as thermopower waves. By igniting fuel-coated carbon nanotubes, a powerful wave of heat is rapidly moved through the length of the tube. This discovery “opens up a new ared of energy research,” according to Michael Strano, MIT’s Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. The potential for new applications such as ultrasmall electronic devices with sensors that could be injected into the human body or scattered into the air.
MIT scientists have found that a powerful wave of thermal energy can be transferred through a submicroscopic carbon nanotube.
The carbon nanotubes were coated with a layer of reactive fuel that produce heat by decomposing and igniting it with either a laser or a high-voltage spark. The result is a thermal wave that moves quickly along the tube. A ring of heat created by the ignited fuel is said to reach temperatures of 3,000 K and speeds up to 10,000 times faster than the normal spread of this chemical reaction once it enters the nanotube and creating a substanial electrical current.
In later experiments conducted by the MIT team, the nanotube system was capable of putting out energy, in proportion to its weight, about 100 times greater than the equivalent weight of a lithium battery. The research appears in the March 7 issue of Nature Materials .
For more information, visit http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/thermopower-waves-0308.html
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Christina D’Airo
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