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Comparing MOSIX with CNT, Carbon Nanotubes.One of the biggest challenges in nanotechnology essential for the construction of new nanometer-sized devices is the synthesis of pure, monodispersed nanotubes or nanowires with identical structure and – ideally - tuneable physical or functional properties. Unfortunately the prototype material – Carbon NanoTubes or CNT – has stopped short of fulfilling this goal, partly because it has been proved difficult to synthesise it in a way that produces identical nanotubes in bulk.MOSIX, a new class of one-dimensional molybdenum cluster polymers (MCPs), with the formula Mo6C9-xHx (C=chalcogen, H=halogen, 3 < x < 6), appears to surpass many of the shortcomings of CNT. MOSIX nanotubes are synthesised in a straightforward one-step synthesis process, have no inseparable impurities and can be easily and controllably dispersed without use of surfactants. At the same time MOSIX very effectively satisfies many of the requirements in various applications defined by 10 years of CNT research : their functional properties such as mechanical strength, electrical conductivity and field emission characteristics are indeed very similar to CNT. In addition, they are also of particular interest in composites, Li battery electrodes, as nanosensors with tuneable chemical properties (depending on the composition) and as lubricants. The ability of sulphur on the surface to attract gold particles in combination with dispersability in water is particularly useful for interfacing MCPs to biomolecules. Further interest arises from their properties as strongly-correlated electron materials. When doped with Li, they display anomalous giant paramagnetic effect. The implication is that the material is close to a ferromagnetic instability. |  | | ||
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