2013)- is also quite fascinating and almost mimics the growth of a plant shoot - ‘as supersaturation occurs, carbon atoms precipitate out from the particle’, forming a nanotube that has a ‘dome-shaped end’ (Dai, H. 2002). (Dai,2002) introduced 3 methods in which CNTs may align themselves: ‘self-assembly by intratube van der Waals interactions’ of MWCNTs, ‘selfassembly by van der Waals Interactions with substrates’ of ‘suspended’ SWCNTs and ‘electric filed directed nanotube growth’ of SWCNTs where CNTs were grown on silicon nanowires (SiNW) (Yoshida, H. et al. 2007). Although the potential benefits to society CNTs can offer are voluminous, there are reasons why the applications suggested above have not been used. Some of these reasons include: the amount of CNTs, as “most mass-produced CNTs are highly defective, and high-quality CNTs are hard to produce in large quantity” (Aron, J. 2016);purity of the CNTs, as ‘purification difficulties are great because of the insol-
ubility of CNT and the limitation of liquid chromatography’ (Jahanshahi, M. and Kiadihi, A.S. 2013); environmental risks, as CNTs have only been looked into for around 30 years, which means it is difficult to fully understand the impacts it can have of used in large amounts. The idea of artificial growth of CNTs has been discussed, but there is also some research that does suggest the possibility of naturally-made CNTs given the right conditions - researchers have found ‘evidence of naturally occurring MWCNTs produced from Pinus oocarpa and Pinus pseudostrobus, following a forest wildfire’ as well as extractions of ice cores containing ‘carbon nanotubes and fullerene nano crystals’(Murr, L. E. et al. 2004, p.2). In the future, as we discover more evidence and have a deeper understanding of the natural formation of CNTs, we may be able to develop sustainable new ways of creating CNTs that may be sufficient for more commonplace use in our daily lives. -Alice
Bionic photosynthesis: the future of fuel production? Introduction For over a century, scientists have been fascinated with artificially replicating the process of photosynthesis that takes place in living organisms. In 1912, Giacomo Ciamician, an Italian chemist wrote, “So far, human civilization has made use almost exclusively of fossil solar energy… Would it not be advantageous to make better use of radiant energy?” He went on to suggest that “Meshing plants with tech-
nology would turbocharge photosynthesis.” [1] It could be argued that Ciamician’s ambitions have since been achieved; we have discovered how to convert solar energy to electrical energy, through the use of solar panels. The typical consumer solar panel constructed from rigid silicon crystals generally has efficiency rates of between 15 to 20 per cent, although some panels such as the monocrystalline solar panel, have even higher levels of efficiency. [2] This 23