Nanotubes — microscopic cylinders the shape of drinking straws, but just one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair — have been the subject of intensive research, with potential uses ranging from solar cells to chemical sensors to reinforced composite materials. Most of the research has centered on carbon nanotubes, but other nanotubes’ properties appear to be similar.
So it was quite unexpected when Lydéric Bocquet, a visiting professor in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, conducted tests on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) and found that at least in terms of one key property, friction, the two seemingly identical types of tubes were not only different, but nearly opposite in their characteristics: CNTs are so slippery that they are described as having an extreme form of frictionlessness, called superlubricity. BNNTs, on the other hand, display a very high level of friction — a totally unexpected discovery.
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