As was discussed in an earlier article, the ever-increasing complexity of our toys is somewhat hemmed in by our earthly space limitations. As a result, there is a mass movement toward miniaturization, and the concombinant search for new materials from which to build these reduced marvels. From this scramble for functionality has emerged a class of materials that holds great promise for many of the applications of the future: the Buckminster fullerenes and their derivatives.
In the early 1990's, researchers discovered the Buckminster fullerene molecule, which consists of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a sort of soccer ball of connected pentagons and heptagons. Because of the strength of carbon-carbon chemical bonds and the vast amount of open space, these molecules had a high strength-to-mass ratio as well as several other remarkable properties.
It was subsequently discovered that "tubes" of carbon of roughly the same diameter as the so-called "Bucky Ball" could be made, each resembling a rolled-up sheet of graphite. It didn't take researchers long to discover that these tubes could be stacked together to make a strong, lightweight material whose conducting properties could be tuned to a desired level based on the pattern of carbon bonding in the tubes. This field is one of the fastest-growing areas in materials science and promises to revolutionize everything from computer chip technology to our ability to establish viable colonies on neighboring planets.
Indeed, this work has been deemed so important that one of its pioneers, Professor Richard Smalley of Rice University was named the Nobel Laureate for Chemistry in 1996. (Professor Smalley's work can be viewed at the web page for Rice's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at http://cnst.rice.edu).
Because the nanotube field is so new, it has been imperative for researchers to develop methods to help lead them through the experimental minefield of discovery. Computer simulation of proposed nanotube materials has been applied in this capacity and is making important contributions to shaping the path of this discipline. In particular, molecular modeling has been employed to examine the interplay between a carbon nanotube matrix and various embedded substances in structural materials. A combination of both quantum and classical mechanics has been employed in the investigation of the desired properties and the results have been used to both validate and guide experimental studies. Next week will be devoted to looking at two of these efforts, one at Rice University and one at NASA.
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