The good of small things [use of buckytubes in power storage devices]

This article considers the use of nanotechnology in future energy storage devices. The goal is an energy system where every household has a low-cost, fridge-sized storage device capable of retaining its daily power needs. It suggests that the single-walled nanotube or buckytube could contribute to small-scale energy storage. Its role would not be in storing energy, but rather as a nanoscale connecting mechanism, transferring the stored energy to our everyday macroscopic world. Such a connection would have to be extraordinarily mechanically robust, and weaving or spinning nanotubes into ordered, traditional-sized wires could provide the means to connect the atomic with the macroscopic. The article also examines various initiatives and funding proposals to enable research in this area.