www.deckeryeadon.com Fullerenes come in a variety of shapes, but all of the molecules in the Fullerene family are composed entirely of carbon. They might be cylindrical Fullerenes, in which case they are called carbon nanotubes or buckytubes, or they might be more complex shapes. Fullerene molecules might also be spherical, as in the buckminsterfullerene C60 molecule, which was named in honor of R. Buckminster Fuller, architect of the geodesic dome. Despite the homage, Buckminster Fuller never worked directly with nanotechnology. But to be fair, few architects have. Even today, as other disciplines rush to experiment with nanotechnology in the pursuit of new applications, it is extremely rare to find anyone in the architecture community that is engaged in nanotech research and development. Sure, a few nano-enabled building products have been specified for some projects here and there, but architects are well behind other creative disciplines, such as industrial design and apparel design. That might be changing. Decker Yeadon, a young firm in New York City, has just synthesized a thin sheet of carbon nanotubes, called Buckypaper. To make it, they first dispersed single walled carbon nanotubes in sodium dodecyl sulfate and deionized water. Because the 1–2 nanometer diameter nanotubes are hydrophobic, Decker Yeadon used sodium dodecyl sulfate as a surfactant that enabled the nanotubes to disperse well in water. The solution containing the nanotubes was then poured into a …
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