Engineering of Nanometer-Scale Structures
from Carbon Nanotubules
Department of Chemical & Materials
Engineering
The University of Kentucky
This is an abstract
for a talk to be given at the
Fifth
Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology.
The full paper is now available.
It is now well established that carbon nanotubules posses
unique mechanical and electronic properties that make them quite
promising for use in new structural materials and electronic
devices. This talk will discuss 1) the properties of carbon
fibers of aligned single-walled nanotubules and some possible
applications of these fibers, and 2) the design of a new
molecular transistor built from carbon nanotubules.
Analytical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations
have been performed to study the properties of tubule fibers of
various structures and tubule lengths. When the tubule fibers are
aligned normal to the tubule axis on an inert substrate, it is
found that they form a new, nano-porous surface suitable for use
in separation or catalysis functions. In addition, a novel carbon
composite of layered nanotubule fibers (aligned in the direction
of the tubule axis) and diamond is discussed which is a
high-modulus, low-density material that is quite stable to shear
and other distortions. Finally, a design will be presented for a
nanometer-scale electronic transistor composed of carbon
nanotubules.
*Corresponding Address:
Susan B. Sinnott, Assistant Professor, The University of
Kentucky, Dept. of Chemical & Materials Engineering, 177
Anderson Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0046, telephone: (606)257-5857
fax: (606)323-1929, email: [email protected]
http://www.engr.uky.edu/CME/cmefac/sinnott.html
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