Defining Carbon Nanotubes on Contracts

Sunday, March 12, 2006

That is Carbon Nanotubes? Why not call it Nano Carbon Tubes?

I wonder how people (lawyers, bureaucrats) define carbon nanotubes in contracts. I have came come out with several definitions on the web:
  1. A carbon nanotube is an ordered molecule of pure carbon. The diameter of a carbon nanotube is on the order of 10 nanometers (1x10 -8 meters, 4x10 -7 inches). Per kilogram of mass, a carbon nanotube theoretically will be over 30 times as strong as Kevlar and 250 times as strong as steel.
    www.isr.us/Downloads/niac_pdf/definitions.html
  2. cylinders as small as 1 nm in diameter grown from fullerenes to resemble a rolled-up sheet of graphite; exhibits desirable semiconductor characteristic such as ballistic electron transport, plus is structurally 100 times stronger than steel of the same weight
    www.eet.com/reshaping/nanotech/OEG20020912S0030
  3. a fullerene molecule having a cylindrical or toroidal shape
    wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
  4. Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical carbon molecules with properties that make them potentially useful in extremely small scale electronic and mechanical applications. They exhibit unusual strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat. Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube

As most of the definitions above contained "fullerene", lets have a look on its definition:

"The fullerenes are recently-discovered allotropes of carbon. They are molecules composed entirely of carbon, in form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. Spherical fullerenes are sometimes called buckyballs, and cylindrical fullerenes are called buckytubes or nanotubes."

Why is the "legal" definition for Carbon Nanotubes that "important"? Here's why:

  1. According to a new report from NanoMarkets LC , the unique electrical, thermal and physical properties of carbon nanotubes will create $3.6 billion in new business for the electronics and semiconductor sectors by 2009.
  2. Carbon nanotube technology will replace silicon transistors in the near future. With carbon nanotubes, devices could be twice as fast, more powerful and more compact.

Those definitions listed above are technical ones and contained words that still needs to be defined. I will try to formulate an ubiquotous definition, but before that, can anyone tell me why we can't call it Nano Carbontubes?

Mohamad Mova Al 'Afghani

(Images: Wikipedia)

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