Abstract:
Single-walled carbon nanotubes have been used to increase the electrical conductivity of alumina by 13 orders of magnitude. Guo-Dong Zhan and colleagues at the University of California at Davis have taken a sample of alumina, which is a ceramic insulator, and turned it into a fracture-resistant composite with a conductivity that is over 735% higher than the previous record for a nanotube-ceramic composite.