Nanotubes in old swords

2006/11/20 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Materialak
• Nanoteknologia
• Teknologia
• Fisika
• Kimika

The work of the famous Damascus swords has long since disappeared, but they believe they have found the key to their hardness and rigour: carbon nanotubes.

Researchers at the University of Dresden in Germany review the steel of the sword with an electron microscope and observe the tubes of some nanometers. These nanotubes are believed to be formed by working steel at high temperatures, using India's iron ore, whose impurities act as catalysts for the carbon of wood and fire leaves to acquire the structure of nanotubes.

Photo: Nature.