【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】Carbon nanotube motors have been developed – could the era of copper coils be coming to an end? ? ?

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Recently, a research team in South Korea made breakthrough progress in developing lighter electric motors. Scientists have successfully designed a motor whose coils are entirely made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). According to CNMO, a key component of traditional electric motors is the copper coil, which accounts for the majority of the motor’s total weight. Although copper has excellent electrical conductivity, it is heavy, costly, and highly susceptible to fluctuations in global market prices; therefore, the development of carbon nanotube coils as a substitute for copper could have a profound impact. Carbon nanotubes have been regarded as materials with great potential for many years: they are extremely lightweight, have a very stable structure, and possess high electrical conductivity. However, due to residual impurities in the manufacturing process, its large-scale application has not yet been achieved. In particular, catalyst metals will deposit on the surface of the nanotubes, thereby affecting electrical conductivity. To obtain sufficient quantities and quality of material for manufacturing motors, scientists first developed a new purification process based on a special arrangement technique for liquid crystals. When carbon nanotubes are arranged along the crystal structure, metal residues are gently removed from the surface without damaging the sensitive nanostructure. In this way, coils with significantly improved electrical conductivity can be manufactured, which are more suitable for the operation of motors. In preliminary tests, the researchers found that the motor speed could be precisely controlled by the input voltage—proving that carbon nanotube coils are capable of performing their basic function: converting electrical energy into mechanical energy. If this technology can be applied on a large scale, future electric motors are expected to become lighter, more efficient, and rely less on copper. In the long term, carbon nanotube technology can be applied not only to electric motors but also to batteries, semiconductor components, and robot cables.