BYU physics students use a new technique to make a Cupid with nanostructures. (image: Lawrence Barrett/BYU)
Stumped about what to make your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? Perhaps the world’s smallest Cupid will warm your dearest’s heart. All it takes is a plate, some microscopic iron and a blast of heat. A degree in physics wouldn’t hurt, either.
Brigham Young University physics professors Robert Davis and Richard Vanfleet conduct research with nanostructures, objects made from carbon nanotubes (CNT) that can only be viewed using optical and electron microscopes. When the metal particles are blasted with heated gas, they grow into a nanotube forest, with each stalk measuring just 20 atoms across. Most of the resulting nanostructure is composed of air.
“It’s a really fragile structure at this point,” says Davis. “Blowing on it or touching it would destroy it.”
The physicists have developed techniques to strengthen their nanostructures to make them stable. As part of that work, their research group — a mix of undergraduate and graduate students interested in nanoscience and nanotechnology — creates nanostructures to test the process. Occasionally, Davis and Vanfleet stray from practical products to assemble something more fun, such as the university logo or a tribute to basketball player Jimmer Fredette.
Recently, the professors and their students constructed a tiny homage to February’s biggest holiday: the Nanocupid. It took two tries to get their Cupid to meet specs, fixing a bent bow in the prototype. Nanostructures like this tend to take up to two days to construct.
The technology BYU is advancing is important for chemical separation. Filters can be produced in a precise way, with uniform holes one-tenth the circumference of a human hair. This has application in industries where oxygen masks are used, like health care, scuba diving and mining. “Compressed gas systems can generate particles that need to be filtered out,” explains Davis.
In addition to micro-filters, this CNT technology licensed by BYU is being applied to x-ray devices (with Moxtek) and chromatography (with US Synthetic). The tech can also be used to build sensors in micromachines to detect acceleration, rotation and hazardous chemicals.
One of the BYU students, junior Lawrence Barrett, submitted an entry to Innovation Idol, a business plan competition in Utah. As the only undergraduate in the field, he was nervous but gained confidence during the Q&A session. Barrett claims the BYU filters can be made for the same price as comparable products but with much higher flow rates at the same pressures.
“[W]hat we do, our angle of solving micro-mechanical problems, is so different than what anyone else has done,” says Barrett. “We’re not just making small improvements.”
According to Barrett, the next step is to gather more data on filters constructed with different materials, such as nickel. “We have much more experience filling CNT forests with carbon than nickel,” says Barrett, whose work focuses on perfecting the electroplating in the process. “We are trying to gather a large amount of reliable data on the performance of the filters so that we can convince investors to invest in the product and companies to use it.”
Barrett plans to apply to Ph.D. programs in a year to work on developing a high-capacity battery.
