![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090509042825im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) Press Release 06-144 Researchers Develop Method to Sort Carbon Nanotubes by Size and Electrical Properties
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Method could make better batches for commercial applications
October 4, 2006
Carbon nanotubes sport a long list of powerful properties, from superior strength to finely tuned electrical conductivity. But current methods for synthesizing them yield mixtures of the tiny tubes that have a variety of diameters and properties. That lack of consistency limits their use in commercial technology.
Now, NSF-supported researchers at Northwestern University have developed a method to sort carbon nanotubes that vary from each other by no more than 0.02 nanometers (billionths of a meter).
The results are published in the October 2006 inaugural issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
See the Northwestern news release at http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/.
-NSF-
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Megan Fellman, Northwestern University (847) 491-3115 fellman@northwestern.edu
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