GAITHERSBURG, Md., Jan. 2, 2007 -- Conventional ways of purifying carbon nanotubes -- necessary if they are to be used in the future as ultrastrong fibers, electrical wires in molecular devices or hydrogen fuel cell components -- are expensive processes that often result in some tubes being damaged or destroyed. Now a simpler method has been discovered that safely cleans the tubes by zapping them with carefully calibrated laser pulses.
When carbon nanotubes -- the cylindrical form of the fullerene family -- are synthesized by any of several processes, a significant amount of contaminants such as soot, graphite and other impurities also is formed. Purifying the product is an important issue for commercial application of nanotubes.
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