Rice University lab makes hybrid nanotube-graphene material
that promises to simplify manufacturing
Carbon nanotubes are reinforcing bars that make
two-dimensional graphene much easier to handle in a new hybrid material grown
by researchers at Rice University.
The Rice lab of chemist James Tour set nanotubes into
graphene in a way that not only mimics how steel rebar is used in concrete but
also preserves and even improves the electrical and mechanical qualities of
both.