Spin Control: New Technique Sorts Nanotubes by Length (IMAGE)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Spin Control: New Technique Sorts Nanotubes by Length

Caption

In a schematic of NIST's length separation technique for carbon nanotubes (l.), the nanotubes start at the bottom of a dense fluid. When spun in a centrifuge, the nanotubes begin to migrate through the fluid driven by their buoyancy, but the longer ones move faster, spreading them out by length. Photos (r.) shows a typical sample at the start and after 94 hours of spinning at 1257 radians per second (roughly 12,000 RPM).

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NIST

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