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Preview: 'Buckypaper' stronger than steel, harder than diamonds

Working with a material 10 times lighter than steel - but 250 times stronger - would be a dream come true for any engineer. If this material also had amazing properties that made it highly conductive of heat and electricity, it would start to sound like something out of a science fiction novel. Yet one Florida State University research group, the Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FAC2T), is working to develop real-world applications for just such a material.

Ben Wang, a professor of industrial engineering at the Florida
A&M University-FSU College of Engineering, serves as director of
FAC2T (http://www.fac2t.eng.fsu.edu), which works to develop new, high-performance composite materials, as well as technologies for producing them.

Wang is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in the growing field of
nano-materials science. His main area of research, involving an
extraordinary material known as "buckypaper," has shown promise in a
variety of applications, including the development of aerospace
structures, the production of more-effective body armor and armored
vehicles, and the construction of next-generation computer displays.
The U.S. military has shown a keen interest in the military
applications of Wang's research; in fact, the Army Research Lab
recently awarded FAC2T a $2.5-million grant, while the Air Force Office
of Scientific Research awarded $1.2 million.

"At FAC2T, our objective is to push the envelope to find out just
how strong of a composite material we can make using buckypaper," Wang
said. "In addition, we're focused on developing processes that will
allow it to be mass-produced cheaply."

Buckypaper is made from carbon nanotubes - amazingly strong fibers
about 1/50,000th the diameter of a human hair that were first developed
in the early 1990s. Buckypaper owes its name to Buckminsterfullerene,
or Carbon 60 - a type of carbon molecule whose powerful atomic bonds
make it twice as hard as a diamond. Sir Harold Kroto, now a professor
and scientist with FSU's department of chemistry and biochemistry, and
two other scientists shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their
discovery of Buckminsterfullerene, nicknamed "buckyballs" for the
molecules' spherical shape. Their discovery has led to a revolution in
the fields of chemistry and materials science - and directly
contributed to the development of buckypaper.
Among the possible uses for buckypaper that are being researched at FAC2T:

… If exposed to an electric charge, buckypaper could be used to
illuminate computer and television screens. It would be more
energy-efficient, lighter, and would allow for a more uniform level of
brightness than current cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal
display (LCD) technology.

… As one of the most thermally conductive materials known,
buckypaper lends itself to the development of heat sinks that would
allow computers and other electronic equipment to disperse heat more
efficiently than is currently possible. This, in turn, could lead to
even greater advances in electronic miniaturization.

… Because it has an unusually high current-carrying capacity, a
film made from buckypaper could be applied to the exteriors of
airplanes. Lightning strikes then would flow around the plane and
dissipate without causing damage.
… Films also could protect electronic circuits and devices within
airplanes from electromagnetic interference, which can damage equipment
and alter settings. Similarly, such films could allow military aircraft
to shield their electromagnetic "signatures," which can be detected via
radar.

FAC2T "is at the very forefront of a technological revolution that
will dramatically change the way items all around us are produced,"
said Kirby Kemper, FSU's vice president for Research. "The group of
faculty, staff, students and post-docs in this center have been
visionary in their ability to recognize the tremendous potential of
nanotechnology. The potential applications are mind-boggling."

FSU has four U.S. patents pending that are related to its buckypaper research.

In addition to his academic and scientific responsibilities, Wang
recently was named FSU's assistant vice president for Research. In this
role, he will help to advance research activities at the College of
Engineering and throughout the university.

"I look forward to bringing researchers together to pursue
rewarding research opportunities," Wang said. "We have very
knowledgeable and talented faculty and students, and I will be working
with them to help meet their full potential for advancement in their
fields."


Source: Florida State University (By Barry Ray)

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