Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) are vertical hollow structures comprised of carbon atoms enjoined via industrial-strength hexagonal lattice. Scientists at
Rice University
have published research into a method of "gluing" the SWCNTs to sheets
of graphene that maintain the ohmic properties of the bond.
Picture chicken wire that is stronger than steel, yet able to conduct
electricity. Comparatively, copper (Cu) and gold (Au) -- two
traditionally "conductive" materials are soft and would never be able to
support comparative structures of these relative heights. Just as an
ant is able to lift ~50 times their body weight, these carbon nanotube
structures are able to scale to heights beyond imagination -- "
up to a distance of 120 microns
(0.12mm), which is really rather impressive at this scale. If we scaled
it up to actual trees, they would rise into outer space," reports ExtremeTech.
This microcosm of tubular awesomeness is significant because it means that the
surface area of a base can actually support much more "storage" power. That is, supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and other kinds of energy storage may be able do do more with less. Denser energy storage structures mean longer-life batteries in a smaller space.
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