Friday, September 26, 2008
Carbon nanotube (CNT) R&D has exploded in recent years, but researchers still struggle to produce consistent, high-quality CNTs on a tight budget. A number of systems now exist on the market which are designed to manufacture nanoscale raw materials, but the SabreTube Desktop Thermal Processing System, from Absolute Nano, Amherst, N.H., stands out because of its ease of use, powerful heating rate, modular design, and reasonable expense. Instead of the insulated coils used by many conventional tube furnaces, SabreTube resistively heats a platform of highly-doped silicon with a standard bench-top power supply to achieve up to 100°C/s slew rate on cm-scale samples. The SabreTube stands out because it pre-treats the reaction gas to allow greater control of growth rate, areal density, and catalyst lifetime (ultimate thickness). Optical access gives users in situ monitoring and control of the reaction. This combination has led it to be used in R&D at places like the Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron.
Absolute Nano, www.absolutenano.com