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nanotube

Repairing airplane wings with nanotubes in-flight

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have come up with a way to detect potential structural problems with fighter planes while in flight, and in some cases repair them.

The technique, which is still experimental, involves applying an epoxy later infused with a wire grid and carbon nanotubes onto a wing or other structure. The epoxy is similar to the materials currently used to make fighter plane components. The wire grid and the nanotubes function as a communication network. Mechanics (or a computer) will shoot an electrical charge through the structure and measure how long it takes an electrical charge to … Read more

Paper and carbon nanotube battery developed, and it's flexible

Companies have been trying to figure out how to use carbon nanotubes in electronics. Batteries may be the answer, say researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The device is a piece of paper infused with carbon nanotubes and a salt, which serves as an electrolyte. Because it stores energy and conducts it, the device can act like a battery.

A number of corporate labs and universities have come up with flexible batteries in the past. Power Paper from Israel makes a flexible battery printed on polymers that relies on zinc as an electrolyte. It sells it to the cosmetics industry. Japan … Read more