Now, a super-light nanotube armour that is 7 times stronger than steel of same weight

A US company has unveiled a super lightweight armour made of carbon nanotubes that is seven times stronger than steel of the same weight, and conducts almost as well as aluminium.

London, May 27 : A US company has unveiled a super lightweight armour made of carbon nanotubes that is seven times stronger than steel of the same weight, and conducts almost as well as aluminium.

The company has said the material could lead to lighter bulletproof clothing, wiring for aircraft and more efficient power transmission.

Scientists have known for long that carbon nanotubes have extraordinary strength, transmit heat well and can act as semiconductors, depending on the method of construction.

But these properties are of limited value in individual tubes and making bulk material with the same properties has not proved easy.

Now, Nanocomp, a start-up based in New Hampshire, US, has figured out a way round the problem - by using longer nanotubes, which bind together more effectively.

"The trick is that our nanotubes are much longer than usual - millimetres in length rather than micrometers," said Peter Antoinette, chief of the company.

Although Nanocomp has kept the precise details of the manufacturing process under wraps, it has disclosed that the tubes are made through chemical vapour deposition, which involves condensing carbon out of a gas.

The resulting nanotubes form a kind of unwoven matting, which is treated chemically so that the tubes are aligned, giving the material extra strength in the direction of the alignment.

Presently, the company's prototype production method can make sheets roughly one metre by metres, but hopes to be able to make bigger sheets within a year or so.

Antoinette said they could also make nanotube thread by spinning nanotubes during chemical vapour deposition, instead of simply letting them settle.

David Lashmore, the company's co-founder and chief technical officer, said the textile is seven times stronger than steel of the same weight. But determining how properties such as strength and conductance will change, when the properties of the nanotubes used are altered, is a complex task.

As of now, the US Army's Natick Soldier Center in Massachusetts, US, which part-funds Nanocomp, is contemplating using the textile to reduce the weight of bulletproof armour and make it better at resisting heat.

Antoinette has even suggested aerospace companies to replace conventional wiring with nanotube threads to reduce the weight of aircraft, reports New Scientist.

ANI