{"id":262012,"date":"2017-08-11T12:20:23","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T16:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=262012"},"modified":"2024-10-29T14:20:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T18:20:56","slug":"summer-research-nanotubes-262012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-research-nanotubes-262012\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer research that\u2019s totally (nano)tubular"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"retro<\/a>
Summer of Research:<\/a> <\/strong>Our latest Newscenter series showcases a cross-section of summer research conducted by undergraduates at Rochester and beyond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chemistry major Austin Bailey \u201918 (T5) has been able to carry out specialized research to a rare degree for an undergraduate student. As a participant in the National Science Foundation\u2013funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in summer 2015, he was introduced to the world of carbon nanotubes. He\u2019s been studying them ever since.<\/p>\n

Carbon nanotubes are extremely tiny sheets of carbon rolled into cylinders with diameters 10,000 times smaller than a human hair. Despite their small size, they are 10 times stronger than steel, yet are a fraction of the weight.<\/p>\n

The unique chemical and physical properties of carbon nanotubes\u2014including their strength, flexibility, and ability to conduct heat and electricity\u2014fascinate researchers.<\/p>\n

This summer, under a grant from the US Department of Energy, Bailey is working with Rochester chemistry professor Todd Krauss to develop a special polymer to attach other molecules to nanotubes. Their work could have significant applications for creating renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"two
Take Five student Austin Bailey (right) is pictured in the lab of chemistry professor Todd D. Krauss (left). Bailey is working on synthesizing a polymer that will permit scientists to attach other molecules to nanotubes very easily. (J. Adam Fenster \/ University of Rochester)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFrom the point of view of novel physics and chemistry, nanotubes are amazing because of their unique properties,\u201d Krauss says. \u201cThey are the only material that can be made into a fiber and stretched to such an enormous height that in principle you could use them to tether a satellite to the earth. A steel cable wouldn\u2019t work because it\u2019s too heavy and would collapse under its own weight, but nanotubes are light enough, but strong enough, to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the challenges in working with carbon nanotubes is trying to attach other molecules to them\u2014for instance, through chemical bonds\u2014to take advantage of the nanotubes\u2019 unique properties. When researchers try to chemically bond molecules to nanotubes, the bonds within the nanotubes break. This creates a defect in the tube itself and consequently diminishes the tube\u2019s conducting properties.<\/p>\n

The polymer Bailey is helping to develop will allow scientists to attached molecules to the tube without breaking nanotube chemical bonds. Krauss likens chemical bonds to Velcro: one side is the sticky side and one is the fuzzy side, and pulling them apart requires a lot of energy. The polymers would be more akin to Colorform stickers that cling to glass\u2014they pull off easily and leave no glue or stickiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis polymer that Austin is modifying will allow us to stick things on the nanotubes very gently compared to a direct chemical bond,\u201d Krauss says.<\/p>\n

The ultimate goal is to use the polymer to attach light-harvesting materials to the nanotubes. These materials would grab photons of light and then transfer the light\u2019s energy to the nanotube. Another possibility is attaching materials to the nanotubes that take the protons in water and turn them into hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel. In both cases, the polymers would help create renewable energy solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think physical chemistry is really cool,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cIt\u2019s so interesting how you can use physics to learn about what\u2019s going on far below the microscopic level and then apply that to all these different ideas and problems in chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chemistry major Austin Bailey \u201918 (T5) has spent his summer developing a special polymer to attach other molecules to nanotubes, and his work could have significant applications for creating renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":262422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[19862,19752,29502,18572,16072,41362,93,20932],"class_list":["post-262012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sci-tech","tag-department-of-chemistry","tag-energy","tag-featured-post-side","tag-research-finding","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-summer-of-research-2017","tag-sustainability","tag-undergraduate-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSummer research that\u2019s totally (nano)tubular<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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