March 10, 2011 — A Brigham Young University (BYU) physics student and his professor have a new method of growing tiny machines from carbon molecules.

BYU physics professor Robert Davis and his student Taylor Wood started by patterning the iron seeds of the BYU logo onto an iron plate. Next, they send heated gas flowing across the surface, and a batch of carbon nanotubes (CNT) springs up.

"It’s a really fragile structure at this point — blowing on it or touching it would destroy it," Davis said. "We developed a process to coat and strengthen the tubes so that we can make microstructures that have practical applications."

Another student, Jun Song, used the process to make devices that quickly and neatly separate the various chemicals contained in a solution. The approach using carbon nanotubes is more precise than current chemical separation methods because it gives more control over the channels that the fluids flow through.

The BYU researchers are building several kinds of micro-machines, including actuators, switches, and humidity-detecting cantilevers. Next on their agenda is to create filtration devices.

The company US Synthetic licensed the commercial rights from BYU. Another company, Moxtek, also entered into a licensing agreement with BYU for applications to their X-ray windows.

The technique is detailed by the BYU physicists in a new study published in the scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials. Physics professor Richard Vanfleet and chemistry professor Matthew Linford also contributed to the project and appear as co-authors on the new study. Two researchers from US Synthetic also appear as co-authors. 

Learn more at http://www.byu.edu/webapp/home/index.jsp

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