[+/-] Carbon nanotubes are cool

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have devised a simple and inexpensive way to manufacture very fine filters from carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are rolled-up sheets of carbon atoms that can be narrower than 1 nanometer, which is about the span of 10 hydrogen atoms.

The experiments demonstrated the filters may be useful in producing high-octane gasoline. They also can remove 25-nanometer-sized polio viruses from water, as well as larger pathogens, such as E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Moreover, the nanotube surfaces of the filters may be chemically modified to create highly ordered and chemically selective pore spaces for high-quality separation of specific chemical mixtures. The researchers believe this could make the filters adaptable to microfluidics applications that separate chemicals in drug discovery.

The researchers' method could be used to make practical filters within five years, according to the researchers. The work appeared in the August 1, 2004 issue of Nature Materials.