<p>A material 10 times lighter than steelbut 250 times strongerwith amazing properties that make it highly conductive of heat and electricity. Sounds like something out of a science fiction novel. But "buckypaper" is fact, not fiction, and an FSU research group is working to develop real-world applications for the extraordinary material.</p>
<p>Ben Wang, a professor of industrial engineering at the Florida A&M University-FSU College of Engineering, serves as director of, the Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FAC2T) (<a href="http://www.fac2t.eng.fsu.edu)%5B/url%5D">www.fac2t.eng.fsu.edu)</a>, which works to develop new, high-performance composite materials, as well as technologies for producing them.</p>
<p>Wang is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in the growing field of nano-materials science. His main area of research, involving an extraordinary material known as "buckypaper," has shown promise in a variety of applications, including the development of aerospace structures, the production of more-effective body armor and armored vehicles, and the construction of next-generation computer displays. The U.S. military has shown a keen interest in the military applications of Wang's research; in fact, the Army Research Lab recently awarded FAC2T a $2.5-million grant, while the Air Force Office of Scientific Research awarded $1.2 million.</p>
<p>"At FAC2T, our objective is to push the envelope to find out just how strong a composite material we can make using buckypaper," Wang said. "In addition, we're focused on developing processes that will allow it to be mass-produced cheaply."</p>
<p>See: <a href="http://www.fsu.edu/rd2005/indexTOFStory.html?lead.buckypaper%5B/url%5D">http://www.fsu.edu/rd2005/indexTOFStory.html?lead.buckypaper</a></p>