Nano blocks to enhance electronic device performance

Researchers have created a new set of nanoscale blocks which may enhance the capacity of mechanical and electronic devices.

A research under an Indian-American that developed a new set of nanoscale blocks which can reduce vibrations may enhance the energy dissipation capacity of mechanical and electronic devices.

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"The nanoscale building blocks we have developed will reduce and control vibrations within structures and benefit the performance, safety, and reliability of future manufacturing equipments, sensitive laboratory equipments, and everyday electronic devices," Nikhil Koratkar, Asst Professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute said.

"The new system we have developed have both micro and macro applications," Koratkar, who won the 2004 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Award, said.

The Rensselaer research team added carbon nanotube fillers to traditional vibration reduction materials to enhance their energy dissipation capability.

Addition of large quantities of nanoscale fillers increase the amount of surface area, and thereby increasing frictional sliding that occurs at the filler-to-filler interface which will result in a decrease in vibrations, he added.

Others who assisted him in the research include another Indian-American Pulickel Ajayan, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Pawel Keblinksi, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; and Jonghwan Suhr, a doctoral student in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering.