Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Threadlike carbon nanotube fiber combines strength, flexibility and conductivity

At about 100 times the strength of steel at one sixth the weight and with impressive electrical conductive properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have promised much since their discovery in 1991. The problem has been translating their impressive nanoscale properties into real-world applications on the macro scale. Researchers have now unveiled a new CNT fiber that conducts heat and electricity like a metal wire, is very strong like carbon fiber, and is flexible like a textile thread.

A spool with around 50 m (164 ft) of the new threadlike carbon nanotube fiber

Building on ten years of research, the team, consisting of scientists from Rice University, Dutch firm Teijin Aramid, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, relied on a “wet-spinning” chemical process using chlorosulfonic acid to dissolve clumps of raw nanotubes in a liquid before they were squirted through tiny holes to form long strands. These strands, with trillions and trillions of tightly packed carbon nanotubes all aligned in the same direction, were then spun into a macroscopic thread the researchers say boasts the highest conductivity ever reported for a macroscopic CNT fiber.


Thursday, January 10, 2013

2012 Imagination Power Calendar Art Contest Winners


The results are in and we have selected thirteen art submissions from local elementary students to be used in the 2013 edition of our Imagination Power calendar. This marks the 5th year JCPB has hosted an art contest for local 4th and 5th grade students to express their ideas about renewable energy and sustainable living through pictures. For the fourth consecutive year, JCPB promised a classroom supply of special edition KitBooks to the school with the greatest number of winning entries.

Having four of the thirteen selected entries, Mountain View Elementary of Johnson City Schools took this year’s KitBook grand prize as the school with the most winning selections. KitBooks are a unique and highly effective tool for teaching children key concepts of electrical circuitry and are designed and produced by local entrepreneurs.

Congratulations to Mountain View Elementary and all the young artists listed below! If you would like a copy of this year’s calendar, please come by the JCPB headquarters at 2600 Boones Creek Rd. and pick yours up today (supplies limited).

              Mountain View Elementary:

                
Natalie McBride
                 
Breann Metcalf
                   
 Lyla Muldoon
                   
Jazlynn Wiles

                    Jonesborough Elementary:

                      
Abby Rolla
             
Brandon Southerland
              Gray Elementary:

                   
Daniel Carpenter
                      
 Ethan Head
                     Grandview Elementary:

               
Mackenzie Baldwin
                    Boones Creek Elementary:

                  
Madi Mahoney

                        Lamar Elementary:

                 
Mattie Chase



                 Lake Ridge Elementary:


     
Ava Yobst - Cover Winner


                     Sulphur Springs Elementary:
                   
Cassidy Barrett