Nanotube aligning technique is developed

SEOUL, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- South Korean scientists have developed a technique for aligning nanotubes over large areas.

Carbon nanotubes are attractive candidates for use as the active elements in the next generation of electronic devices. But, scientists noted, it's proven difficult to align nanotubes within device architectures scalable to the levels required for the mass production of nanotube-based chips.

That problem has been solved by a team of researchers from Seoul National and Sungkyunkwan universities in Seoul. Kahp Suh and colleagues developed the technique based on the flow of a solution through nanochannels. The researchers said their technique is especially attractive because of its simplicity; no external stimuli such as the application of an electric field or syringe pumping are required to align the nanotubes.

Suh said the approach represents a promising advance for the integration of nanotubes in microscale devices. He said the use of fluidics to bring typically unruly bundles of nanotubes into line might help to solve prevailing bottlenecks for scaling up the production of nanotube devices.