Can nanotubes be used for lightweight spacecraft parts?

Eventually, carbon nanotube materials could be used to make rocket and spacecraft components. “Ultra-lightweight materials is an exciting area of space technology,” said LaNetra Tate, program executive for NASA’s Game Changing Development program.

How can carbon nanotubes be used to make a space elevator?

A natural choice for constructing a space elevator cable are carbon pipes only nanometers or billionths of a meter wide. Previous research has found that such carbon nanotubes can prove 100 times stronger than steel at one-sixth the weight.

How do you Functionalize Mwcnt?

1. Functionalization of MWCNT. A total of 4 g MWCNT was added in a mixture of potassium hydroxide and ethanol solution and sonicated through an ultrasonication bath for 24 h at 80 °C. Then the resulting mixture was filtered and repeatedly washed it with water.

Do carbon nanotubes have high conductivity?

We found that the carbon nanotubes have very high thermal conductivity comparable to diamond crystal and in-plane graphite sheet.

How feasible is a space elevator?

A space elevator is possible with today’s technology, researchers say (we just need to dangle it off the moon) Space elevators would dramatically reduce the cost of reaching space but have never been technologically feasible.

How does space elevator works?

The basic design of a space elevator would involve a cable, or “tether,” that could stretch from an anchor on the ground to a counterweight in space. A heavy car, or “climber,” would travel up and down the tether. The elevator would carry cargo to geostationary orbit, past the region where Earth’s gravity is strongest.

How are carbon nanotubes functionalized?

Carbon nanotubes can be functionalized via amidation and esterification of the nanotube-bound carboxylic acids. The solubility of these functionalized carbon nanotubes makes it possible to characterize and study the properties of carbon nanotubes using solution-based techniques.

How conductive are carbon nanotubes?

For example, the electrical conductivity of single-walled CNTs (SWCNT) has been reported to be on the order of 102 to 106 S/cm, multi-walled CNTs (MWCNT) are 103 to 105 S/cm [8] and CNT fibers have conductivities that could vary in orders of magnitude, ranging from 10 to 67,000 S/cm [2].

Why do nanotubes have high electrical conductivity?

While metals depend upon the movement of electrons to conduct heat, carbon nanotubes conduct heat by the vibration of the covalent bonds holding the carbon atoms together; the atoms themselves are wiggling around and transmitting the heat through the material.

What are the drawbacks of space elevators?

Downsides of a Space Elevator

  • Tensile strength, (capacity to withstand load) for Carbon Nanotubes is 63 gigapascals, we need over 100 gigapascals.
  • Weather, carbon Nanotubes are great conductors…
  • Debris, The tether will have to withstand meteors space debris and all the other objects zooming in orbit.

Why space elevator is not possible?

It would have to be incredibly strong to handle the gravitational and centrifugal forces pulling on it. The steel used in tall buildings wouldn’t work for a space elevator cable. You’d need a higher mass of steel than all the mass in the universe, Landgraf noted in a 2013 TEDx talk.