Koziol, however, said pure CNT wires could have more immediate uses because they are more flexible than copper. That could be valuable in moving parts such as robot arms or in planes or cars where flexibility is more important than conductivity.
Weight can be crucial. About a third of the weight of a large space satellite, weighing 15 tones, is typically copper. A Boeing 747 jumbo jet uses as much as 215 km (135 miles) of copper wiring, weighing more than 2 tones, the university said.
The UK National Grid said a benefit of CNTs, if developed at commercial scale at a competitive cost, was that they can operate at high temperatures.
"A potential application ... is the ability to produce a conductor that operates effectively at high temperatures, reducing fatigue on our assets and extending the useful life of the conductor," spokeswoman Gillian West said.
"CNT may also be beneficial as it is lightweight and so much easier to transport to our sites," she said.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Email
- Reprints
0 comments:
Post a Comment