*Man, over at TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, they absolutely LOVE carbon nanotubes. I get more carbon nanotube buzz out of them than from all other news sources combined.
*Imagine nanocarbon saving our collective bacon from carbon dioxide.
That would kinda rock, wouldn't it? It's like 1930s world-shattering
sci-fi from a chemistry major.
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22074/?nlid=1761
"Researchers have shown that arrays of vertically grown carbon nanotubes could be used as the catalyst in fuel cells. The carbon nanotubes, which are doped with nitrogen, would be much cheaper and longer lasting than the expensive platinum catalysts used now. ((("Quick, kid, dump the platinum stocks! We gotta corner the market on nitrogen!")))
More than half the cost of fuel-cell stacks comes from platinum, according to the Department of Energy. "Fuel cells haven't been commercialized for larger-scale applications because platinum is too expensive," says Liming Dai, a materials-engineering professor at the University of Dayton, in Ohio, who led the work. (((Only in climate-crisis news do you get major operators with names like "Liming Dai."))) "For electrodes, you need a cheaper material that still has a high performance."
Dai and his colleagues make electrodes by depositing the carbon-nanotube arrays on a composite film of polymer and carbon nanotubes. In a Science paper, (((okay, they're not kidding))) the researchers show that using the material as a cathode gives four times higher current densities than do conventional platinum-coated electrodes. "There has been very limited success to finding a replacement for platinum, and
[carbon nanotubes] could be one," says Prashant Kamat, a chemistry professor at the University of Notre Dame. (((I'm not gonna wisecrack about Professor Kamat's name here, but the work of the world is being done in America by handy guys with names like "Dai" and "Kamat," whereas certain other unnamed ethnic groups are way too heavily-vested in empty financial shenanigans.)))
Carbon nanotubes, which are known to be electrically and mechanically robust, could overcome other issues that platinum faces.
Carbon monoxide can stick to platinum's surface and make it less effective, Dai says. Also, platinum is not very durable, and its properties degrade over time. "Carbon nanotubes have long-term operational stability and do not suffer from carbon-monoxide poisoning," Dai says.
The researchers have shown that the nanotubes work for the chemistry that takes place in a type of highly efficient fuel cells known as alkaline fuel cells. These cells have so far been limited to use for power generation on spacecraft...
Engineers Versus Bankers! Creative Class War!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/08/james-dyson-engineering-britain-railways
SERIOUS class war, all three British parties vying to see who can skin bankers fast enough:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/09/gordon-brown-banking-bonuses
