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Posted

Say one were able to create a network of carbon nanotubes(like pipes) and fill said network with a 'fluid' of protons. Would this be able to be used as a sort of alternative to normal electricity? Would there be any practical purposes for doing such a thing?

 

The only thing I could think of off the top of my head would be a possible use in creating extremely small computer chips. The carbon tubes could act as the insulation on wires and the protons could act like the conductor and charge carriers.

 

But then again, this could be just my overactive imagination. It might make a good tech for scifi, though.


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The problem of repulsion was brought up via IRC. Would the repulsion between protons squeeze them out of the tubes through the walls, or would it act as an electromotive force until it equalizes?


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I've read about using the tube itself as a conductor(or semiconductor depending on the pattern of the atoms), but not as using it for the purposes about which I'm talking.

 

 

If the protons are too small, perhaps something larger like sodium ions would work better to be pumped through the nanotube network.

Posted

Currently, "they" are working on growing nanotubes in a unidirectional manner on a nonconductive substrate for use as computer chips to replace silicon ones. I know Scientific American has had articles about this but don't have a URL reference off the top of my head.

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