\n\tThe Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, announces that its researchers have won an award of $1 million from the Department of Energy’s advanced manufacturing office for development of nanometal-interconnected carbon conductors for advanced electric machines.<\/p>\n
\n\tMetal-based wiring such as copper in electric devices may eventually be replaced by nanocarbon materials that are stronger, do not corrode, are lighter in weight, and are equally conductive.<\/p>\n
\n\t“The differentiator in the present work is that we are looking for the right combination of carbon nanotubes with nano-metals to create better transport at the nanoscale. This is going to require us to find the right chemical treatment technology to infiltrate the nano-tube network with metals and the right metals,” says Brian Landi, associate professor of chemical engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering. “If we could create affordable carbon wiring that has the electrical properties competitive with metal wiring, we would have a completely disruptive technology that would supplant metal wiring in select portable applications,”<\/p>\n
\n\tProf. Landi is the principal investigator on the project, working with government partners at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and with industry leaders Nanocomp Technologies and Minnesota Wire. <\/p>\n