Old newspapers can be used to grow carbon nanotubes: Study

Old newspapers are the solution towards providing a cheap and green solution for the bulk production of single-walled carbon nanotubes, suggest researchers.Carbon nanotubes are tiny molecules with incredible physical properties that can be used in a huge range of things, such as conductive films for touchscreen displays, flexible electronics, fabrics that create energy and antennas for 5G networks.The new study, published in the -- MDPI Journal C -- details the research experiments carried out in producing carbon nanotubes which could have the potential to solve some of the problems associated with their large scale production such as the high cost of preparing a suitable surface for chemical growth and the difficulties in scaling up the process, as only single surface growth processes have been previously available.The research team discovered that the large surface area of newspapers provided an unlikely but ideal way to chemically grow carbon nanotubes."Newspapers have the benefit .