14 DAY TRIAL // A group of investigators from the University of Texas in Dallas announces the development of a new class of carbon nanotubes that can act as speakers when placed inside small sheets. The instrument could potentially be used for a wide variety of applications, ranging from sonar to the creation of noise-canceling speakers. The research team says that submarines could have a lot to benefit from the new technology, given that the ships' stealthiness and invisibility to enemy sonar comes from its ability to produce and suppress sounds underwater, PhysOrg reports.
Traditional submarine sonar arrays could, in the near future, be replaced by the new nanoscale speakers, which are apparently just as effective in the water as they are on land. “Nanotube sheets can easily be deployed on curved surfaces, like the hull of a sub. They’re very light, about 20 microns thick, and they’re 99 percent porous. Layers of nanotube sheets can be built up, each with a different function, for sonar projector applications or for control of the boundary layer losses for marine vehicles,” explains the leader of the research team, Dr Ali Aliev.
“Meaning, periodically heating the skin of a sub – or even an airplane – warms the thin pocket of air around the vehicle and reduces friction and turbulence. Or, these underwater sound generators could cancel out the sonar signal being sent out by another sub, leaving the friendly sub undetected,” the expert continues. The scientist holds an appointment at the UTD Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, where the new investigation was carried out. One of the most remarkable things about the new speakers is the fact that they can be tuned in such a way that they drown out a particular sound.
In the case of military applications, this means that the protective layers would be used to mask the ramble made by a submarine engine. This would make enemy ship unable to detect the vessel, essentially rendering it stealthy. This would, in turn, open up new possibilities for the subs to go deep into enemy territory and conduct missions that would have otherwise been impossible. Details of the new work appear in the latest issue of the American Chemical Society's esteemed journal Nano Letters.