From: Robin Hanson (hanson@econ.berkeley.edu)
Date: Thu Sep 10 1998 - 10:03:17 MDT
Brian D Williams forwards:
>4. ON THE FUTURE OF CARBON NANOTUBE CHEMISTRY
>... 4) Perhaps of greatest interest is
>the recent demonstration by Heer et al (Georgia Institute of
>Technology, US), confirming theoretical predictions, that carbon
>nanotubes can carry current at room temperature with essentially
>no resistance. ... At the present time, single-
>walled carbon nanotubes are commercially available for
>approximately US$200 per gram. ...
That CEO of Magnetic Power Inc. and ROOTS I mentioned called me
on the phone, and convinced me they have a reasonable case for
having found room temperature superconductivity. It's in a
silicon polymer, but so far only in rare filimants of ~10nm length.
They have improved their yield by 10^4 over the last few years, but
still have a ways to go, though they have some nearterm
applications feasible with low yields. (They invited folks up to
see their lab, ~ 50 miles north of bay area.)
So the bottom line seems to be that we have several known room T
superconductors, and it'll be a race to see which tech can improve
their production process the fastest. Given all other applications
for nanotubes, I guess I'd bet on them. But it could be many years
still.
Robin Hanson
hanson@econ.berkeley.edu http://hanson.berkeley.edu/
RWJF Health Policy Scholar, Sch. of Public Health 510-643-1884
140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 FAX: 510-643-8614
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