Small Cables, Big Power

Early in their research on carbon nanotubes, scientists realized that these elongated molecules of buckminsterfullerene could conduct electricity considerably more efficiently than copper wires. Now, NASA has teamed up with Rice on an $11-million project to create the first nano power cables.

NASA is interested because power cables made of carbon fullerenes are ideal for spacecraft, reducing weight as well as fire hazards while operating as much as 10 times more efficiently than conventional wiring. The goal of the four-year project is to create a one-yard prototype cable.

That won’t be easy, says Richard Smalley, co-discoverer of buckminsterfullerene and director of Rice’s Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory. “This is not a straightforward applied research project where we know it’s been done and it works,” he says. “We’re going to do major pioneering research during this process.”

If the researchers can find an efficient way to manufacture lengths of carbon nanotube power cable, the elongated molecules potentially could replace wire in everything from cables used to carry electricity from power-generating stations to wiring in homes and electrical equipment.