Spinning a Thread from a Carbon Nanotube Forest - Bytesize Science

University of Maryland grad student Alex Brozena gives a quick demo on how to spin a thread from a carbon nanotube forest. This technique could be used to scale up carbon nanotubes for use in industrial applications.

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[alicen lokheart]

its a bit late late but what ur seeing here is nano fibers not nano tubes,a nano tube is sups strong but nano fiber is a bunch of short nano tubes held to gather by their rather strong atomic attrition,think like a bunch of magnet clinking to each other but almost impossible to pull apart in larger sizes unlike here where its just a string

[Joe kewl]

Um im kinda confused... I thought we couldn't use carbon nano tubes for industrial purposes, i.e. Space elevator? It looks like you guys are able to build with it if you can work the material at the macro scale... whats the hitch then?

[OnTheWhistle]

This is very cool. The project was presented well and made me really want to see this perused. However I would have like to see some sort of test on that thread, maybe basic tests for tinsel strength or elasticity to show how it might perform. Possibly another video. Great job.