Buckypapers Clarify Electrical, Optical Behavior Of Nanotubes

Using highly uniform samples of carbon nanotubes—sorted by centrifuge for length—materials scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made some of the most precise measurements yet of the concentrations at which delicate mats of nanotubes become transparent, conducting sheets. Their recent experiments point up the importance of using relatively homogeneous—not overly short, but uniform in length— nanotubes for making high performance conducting films.Among their other qualities, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have attracted much attention as tiny electrical conductors. Relatively small concentrations of nanotubes can change a normally insulating polymer film to a transparent electrical conductor. .......

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