Tracking news and progress the future, future technology and especially advanced nanotechnology, nuclear and energy technology, quantum computers, life extension, space technology and AI. Proposing and tracking the best societal, business and technical choices to the next big things that will shape our future. Official Lifeboat Foundation news source. ...
True strength properties of carbon nanotubes measured and they match with theoretical predictions. Previous measurements came up a lot weaker than theory. Not only do the new measurements show that defect free carbon nanotubes are as strong as predicted but the an irradiation strategy can fix defects and provide cross links to help carbon nanotube bundles [macro scale rope and tethers] be stronger. "Imaging and measurement resolutions as well as atomic structural ambiguities (defects) obscured the results of most experiments and provided unreliable mechanical predictions," said Horacio Espinosa, a professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. Espinosa and his group at Northwestern have resolved these issues using a nanoscale material testing system based on microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology. This system allows electronic measurements of load and displacement during a test, which is performed inside a transmission electron microscope to provide real-time atomic imaging. "This method removes all ambiguity from testing results," Espinosa said. "We can be certain of all the quantities we have measured, and the results match quantum mechanics predictions very well." Espinosa collaborated with George Schatz, Morrison Professor of Chemistry in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, as well as with Peter Zapol, a physicist at Argonne National Labora ...
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