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Engineering of Nanometer-Scale Structures from Carbon Nanotubules

Susan B. Sinnott* and Ajay Garg

Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering
The University of Kentucky

This is an abstract for a talk to be given at the Fifth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology. The full paper is now available.

It is now well established that carbon nanotubules posses unique mechanical and electronic properties that make them quite promising for use in new structural materials and electronic devices. This talk will discuss 1) the properties of carbon fibers of aligned single-walled nanotubules and some possible applications of these fibers, and 2) the design of a new molecular transistor built from carbon nanotubules.

Analytical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the properties of tubule fibers of various structures and tubule lengths. When the tubule fibers are aligned normal to the tubule axis on an inert substrate, it is found that they form a new, nano-porous surface suitable for use in separation or catalysis functions. In addition, a novel carbon composite of layered nanotubule fibers (aligned in the direction of the tubule axis) and diamond is discussed which is a high-modulus, low-density material that is quite stable to shear and other distortions. Finally, a design will be presented for a nanometer-scale electronic transistor composed of carbon nanotubules.

*Corresponding Address:
Susan B. Sinnott, Assistant Professor, The University of Kentucky, Dept. of Chemical & Materials Engineering, 177 Anderson Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0046, telephone: (606)257-5857 fax: (606)323-1929, email: sinnott@engr.uky.edu
http://www.engr.uky.edu/CME/cmefac/sinnott.html
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