Nanotube 'Forest' Makes Super Slippery Surface

by Tom Simonite NewScientist.com, 14 Sept 2006 A material less sticky than Teflon has been created by covering a surface with a "forest" of carbon nanotubes. It could find use in the construction of microscopic machines and devices, which are prone to inter-molecular forces. A team of researchers coated a silicon wafer with a layer of upright nanotubes, spaced 100 nanometres apart through a process called chemical vapour deposition. This produced a thick "forest" of tubes, with each tube 1000 nm tall and 100 nm wide. They then used tiny levers to push 5-microns-wide polystyrene beads over the surface. The team repeated the test on flat surfaces of gold, silicon, diamond-like carbon and Teflon. They found the nanotube-covered surface to be four times less sticky than its nearest rival, Teflon. Read more