Projects for Lent term 2010
1. Manufacturing carbon nanotubes at low cost and at high volume
Contact: Professor Derek Fray, Department of Materials Science
Carbon nanotubes have long attracted the attention of the media due to their unique physical and chemical properties. However, they are generally expensive and slow to manufacture, due to the low yield and complexity of current manufacturing methods. Although carbon nanotubes are used in increasing numbers of applications in a wide range of sectors, they are still mostly used for specific high-value niche areas, and world production of carbon nanotubes is only a few hundred tonnes a year.
Professor Fray and his team have developed an entirely new approach to the manufacture of carbon nanotubes. Using graphite electrodes immersed in a molten salt and electrolysis, they have created a manufacturing process which is 80% efficient. The method is straightforward and significantly faster than conventional approaches and, assuming it can be scaled-up, allows substantial quantities to be produced at a fraction of current costs.
With some simple modifications, the method can also be used to produce carbon nanotubes filled with metals such as tin. These have been shown to significantly increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries, and are not easily manufacturable using any other process.
The challenge for the i-Team is to identify the applications which would benefit from using carbon nanotubes but are currently restricted due to cost or difficulty of manufacture, as well as recommending the next commercial steps for the researchers to enable their manufacturing process to revolutionise the carbon nanotube marketplace.
2. Using fingerprints to detect drugs and other metabolites
Contact: Professor David Russell, Department of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, & Jerry Walker, Intelligent Fingerprinting Ltd.
A team of researchers at the University of East Anglia have developed a ground-breaking new technique which can use the sweat in fingerprints to identify a number of illegal drugs, prescription drugs and drug metabolites. Using antibodies and simple imaging techniques allows a range of compounds to be detected quickly and easily. The antibody binds to the substance present in the fingerprint, and allows it to be optically imaged.
The method has already been shown to detect cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) and three different narcotic drugs, and a spin-out company has been formed. The researchers now need to know where to focus their attention to ensure they are addressing areas of real commercial need as they extend the method to detect a wider range of substances. Applications range from detecting drugs from fingerprints found at crime scenes, to screening machinery operators and prison inmates for drugs. It might also be possible to use the technique for non-invasive testing for prescription drugs to ensure that patients are taking them regularly, potentially important for elderly patients who may forget to take their medication.
The i-Team will be tasked with identifying the possible uses for this technique, and recommending which have the greatest commercial potential.
3.Highly-sensitive low-power gas sensors
Contacts: Professor Stephen Elliott, Chemistry, & Professor Bill Milne, CAPE
A team of researchers from Chemistry and Engineering have worked together to develop novel gas sensors based on carbon nanotube technology. These sensors have the potential to be low-power, compact and lightweight, as well as to be highly sensitive to low concentrations of gases.
The new sensors use an array of accurately-spaced carbon nanotube electrode pairs, and measure the current generated in the gas by an applied voltage. Each gas gives a unique "fingerprint" as the applied voltage is varied. The accurate and close spacing (of only a few micrometres) of the electrode pairs enables low voltages down to one volt to be used for this technique. Although there are many different methods and sensors available for detecting gases, the researchers believe that this new method will prove to be highly valuable for certain applications, delivering either greater sensitivity or lower power and size requirements than existing methods.
The i-Teams role will be to identify the possible applications for these new gas sensors, and to recommend the gases and industries which could benefit most from a small, lightweight and low-power gas sensor.