Many important technologies—from battery electrodes and
superconducting wires to the catalysts in fuel cells—rely on
materials containing powdered particles, which can be tricky to
manage. Now, in a feat that could simplify the production of
many such technologies and might point the way toward some
radical new ones, researchers at the University of Texas have
demonstrated a way to spin yarn out of nanotubes infused with
useful powdered materials. The researchers have used the method
to make strips of yarn that function as a battery electrode,
others with superconducting properties, and self-cleaning yarns.
“Powders are very important functional materials because they
have very high surface area,” says Ray Baughman, who directs the
MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute at the University of Texas at
Dallas. “The problem is that powders without form are difficult
to use.” Lithium-ion battery electrodes, for example, take
advantage of the high surface area of powders to achieve greater
storage density. But typically eit