FLOWERY bundles of carbon nanotubes could one day help your laptop’s
batteries last ten times as long, a meeting celebrating the 10th anniversary of
the nanotube will hear next month.
Conventional fuel cells are powered by the electrical energy released when
hydrogen and oxygen react on specially prepared electrodes. The surface area of
these electrodes is a major factor limiting the reaction speed—and hence
the fuel cell’s power output. Scientists had hoped to boost fuel cell efficiency
by replacing the electrodes with masses of carbon nanotubes, which are created
when sheets of graphite are rolled up into cylinders. But…
