New Uses for Tiny Carbon Nanotubes: Adding Ionic Liquid to Nanotube Films Could Build Smaller Gadgets

The atom-sized world of carbon nanotubes holds great promise for a future demanding smaller and faster electronic components. Nanotubes are stronger than steel and smaller than any element of silicon-based electronics -- the ubiquitous component of today's electrical devices -- and have better conductivity, which means they can potentially process information faster while using less energy.

The challenge has been figuring out how to incorporate all those great properties into useful electronic devices. A new discovery by four scientists at the University of California, Riverside has brought us closer to the goal. They discovered that by adding ionic liquid -- a kind of liquid salt -- they can modify the optical transparency of single-walled carbon nanotube films in a controlled pattern.