In this issue NanoNews-Now Editor Rocky Rawstern covers nanotubes & buckyballs, and surveys CNT reseachers and producers.

Off the main topic: Contributing writer Pearl Chin (in the next in her monthly series) contributes an article on Why and How to Invest in Entrepreneurial Nanotech vs. Corporate Companies.

And finally, to illuminate the debate over the toxicity of nanoscale materials, we close with timely and pertinent reprints from Howard Lovy's NanoBot, titled Nanotubes and the tale of the rats, and Nano is a concept by which we measure our pain.

Here are a few selected quotes:

Today, CNT's are being used today in batteries (well over 60% of Lithium-ion batteries now contain nanotubes in the graphitic material, according to Dr. David Tomanek), fuel cells, sensors, high-strength composites, and catalysts. According to the NASA Center for Nanotechnology "CNT exhibits extraordinary mechanical properties: the Young's modulus is over 1 Tera Pascal. It is stiff as diamond. The estimated tensile strength is 200 Giga Pascal. These properties are ideal for reinforced composites." In plain-speak, CNT's appear to be the strongest material discovered to-date, exhibiting strength 100 times that of steel, at 1/6th the weight.

"C60 buckyballs are being studied extensively as pharmaceutical agents -- see Nanomedicine, Volume IIA: Biocompatibility. Self-assembling peptide-based (and other-based) nanotubes also look promising as pharma agents. This is near-term nanomedicine, next 1-5 years. The nanorobots come later."
—Robert A. Freitas Jr.
Author, Nanomedicine
Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing

NN: Considering their potential to reduce weight and/or increase the strength of materials, under what conditions are we likely to start seeing widespread use of nanotubes (in industries such as automobile, airplane, and space vehicle manufacturing, and others where weight and strength are paramount)?

We expect a wider use of specialized nanotube-based composite materials. Rosseter, in collaboration with a European team, has observed significantly enhanced electrical conductivity and material strength of plastics upon addition of nanotubes. The optical properties at low loading levels are barely changed. Rosseter material (nanostructured carbon/nanotubes) now appears best due to good performance/price ratio.
—Dr. David Tomanek, Professor of Physics, Michigan State University (home page), Chairman Rosseter Holdings Ltd.

NN: What are some of the most promising (or likely) applications in next five years?

Conductive coatings, adhesives, and composites; passive electronic devices, flat panel displays; fuel cell & battery electrodes.
—Mike Moradi, Founder and Former Vice President,
SouthWest NanoTechnologies, In