Flex those artifical muscles, courtesy nanotech

The researchers made the sheets by depositing iron particles on a silicon plate. By heating the plate and exposing it to a carbon-rich gas, they created rows of tiny carbon cylinders called nanotubes. When a row of nanotubes is pulled with an adhesive strip, the next row attaches itself, drawn by an atomic attraction known as Van der Waals forces. By pulling row upon row of nanotubes, the team was able to create sheets up to two-feet wide, three feet long and just 2 millionths-of-an-inch thick.

Two sheets put together were strong enough to support droplets of water. Multiple layers of the transparent sheet could be strong enough to make heated car windows or bulletproof vests.

‘‘This is fundamentally a new material,’’ says team leader Ray Baughman of the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson.

‘‘Self-supporting, transparent and stronger than steel or high-strength plastics, the sheets are flexible and can be heated to emit light,’’ he told the USA Today daily.

Scientists have been discussing future applications for the nanotube sheets, including creating artificial muscles whose movement is electrically charged, or race cars whose stronger, lighter bodies could also serve as batteries.

In lab tests, the sheets demonstrated solar cell capabilities, using sunlight to produce electricity.

— NYT & PTI