Nanotechnologists at University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and an Australian colleague have produced transparent carbon nanotube sheets that are stronger than the same-weight steel sheets.

Component strength is extremely important for many applications and tested strength of the new material already exceeds the strongest steel sheets and Mylar and Kapton sheets used for ultralight air vehicles. This new nanotube sheets “can be made so thin that a square kilometer of solar sail would weigh only 30 kilograms.”

Some of the reported demonstrations include:

• Yards of ribbons have been successfully run that are lighter than a feather but stronger than steel
• Made entirely of carbon, they also conduct electricity
• Sheets (measured in meters) created from nanotubes can be ‘pulled’ and created on the fly in minutes
• The sheets can collect solar energy, and do so when bent or creased.

Example applications include:

• Blankets that could be unfurled in the desert to harvest energy for soldiers
• Clothing strong enough to repel a bullet
• Car doors strong enough to protect passengers and double as batteries
• Composite structures for fuel cells, supercapacitors or light emitters

For a full overview of the developments, see the UTD press release and the August 19th issue of the Prestigious Journal Science.