Chemists grow unusually long and aligned 'buckytubes'
North Carolina chemists have developed a method of growing one-atom-thick cylinders of carbon, called “nanotubes,” 100 times longer than usual, while maintaining a soda-straw straightness with controllable orientation. Their achievement solves a major barrier to the nanotubes’ use in ultra-small “nanoelectronic” devices, said the team’s leader. The researchers have also grown checkerboard-like grids of the tubes which could form the basis of nanoscale electronic devices.
Duke University chemists say they’ve come up with a way to grow carbon nanotubes — a.k.a. Buckytubes — that vary in size far less than those produced previously. The technique could help with the development of nanostructures with electronic properties reliable enough to use in molecular-sized circuits.