]
] Researchers from the Japanese National Institute of
] Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) have
] added water to the standard method of manufacturing
] carbon nanotubes to produce tall, dense,
] vertically-aligned stands of pure nanotubes. The
] researchers' demonstrations have yielded stands of
] single-wall carbon nanotubes as tall as 2.5 millimeters
] and 99.98 percent pure. Individual nanotubes range from
] one to three nanometers in diameter.
]
] The purity of the nanotubes makes the usual post-growth
] purification process unnecessary. This makes the method
] quicker, less expensive and less likely to damage the
] nanotubes than existing processes, said Kenji Hata, a
] senior researcher at the Japan National Institute of
] Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Nanotubes
] produced using the method are orderly and pure enough for
] use in many fields, including biology, medical implants,
] chemistry, electronics and magnetics research, he said.