Devices and Applications

Demonstrating the real usefulness of a new material is most difficult because the new application or device composed from functional nanomaterial and architectural elements must prove to be superior to existing technologies and materials. Many critical issues such as cost, scale, reliability, and performance must also be satisfied before the application or device can reach the commercial market. To meet these challenges our group is actively pursuing a number of "applications" at the device and systems levels. Following an intellectual path described in previous sections we combine and integrate our efforts at various stages to synthesize the best nanomaterial, organize them into the finest architectural elements and fabricate the most promising application or device. Specific areas that are currently pursued spans from displays, MEMS, composite materials, energy cells, fibers, actuators, heat-exchangers, and rational nanodevices.