From: Colin Hales (colin@versalog.com.au)
Date: Fri Mar 01 2002 - 03:07:24 MST
PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News
Number 578 February 27, 2002
FRACTAL CARBON NANOPORE NETWORK.
<snip>, go to http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2002/split/578-1.html
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The fractal nature of solid shapes has been measured many
times, but this might be the first time a fractal mapping has been
performed for the empty space inside a void, namely the nanopore
network. (For comparison of pore, surface, and solid fractals, see
the figure at www.aip.org/mgr/png.) The surface area of this great
inland realm works out to about 1000 square meters (or one
football field) per gram. The researchers expect that methane and
other fuels could be stored in this kind of structure (the molecules
are readily taken up into the branching alleyways by the weak
attraction of induced electric dipole "van der Waals" forces), and at
pressures much less than the 200 atm needed to store methane in
steel cylinders. Gas separation can also be accomplished because
the narrow channels are negotiated more easily by some molecular
species than others. Electricity storage might be accomplished by
building capacitors enhanced by intermediate layers of activated
carbon networks filled with an ionic conducting fluid. (Pfeifer et
al., Physical Review Letters, 18 March 2002)
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I'm all excited because I've been waiting for some sort of potential method
for building ultra-capacitors for a long time. Lots of suface area *plus*
very small separations, along with physical strength and good dielectric
constant - this is the first real sign of it. I want to see an end to
chemical batteries. I'll get my electric car yet.
The nano-technology of fractal nothingness.
Col
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