CAER News Archive: December 2003
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Mark Tetreau is a new postdoctoral scholar at the CAER. He is working with Steve Lipka in the Carbon Materials Group. His Ph.D. is from the University of New Hampshire in organic chemistry. He is already somewhat familiar with UK having just completed a postdoc with Mark Meier in the UK Department of Chemistry.
Posted by Marybeth McAlister [Link]
Wednesday, December 3, 2003
Recent work on the development of novel nanotube-based membranes by Rodney Andrews and Terry Rantell, along with faculty from the UK Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, will appear in the January issue of Science. The article can be found on line at Science’s web site: http://www.sciencemag.org/sciencexpress/recent.shtml
According to the Science abstract, aligned carbon nanotubes were incorporated across a polymer film to form a well-ordered nanoporous membrane structure. This membrane structure was confirmed by electron microscopy, anisotropic electrical conductivity, gas transport and ionic transport studies. The lengths of the nanotubes within the polymer film were reduced by selective electrochemical oxidation, which allowed for tunable pore lengths. Oxidative trimming processes result in end groups that are functionalized at the entrance of the inner-cores. Membranes demonstrated the ability to gate molecular transport through carbon nanotube cores for potential application in chemical separations and sensing.
The Lexington Herald-Leader featured a front-page story on November 28th, describing the work. http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/7366624.htm
Posted by Marybeth McAlister [Link]
