Carbon nanotubes riddled with metal atoms conduct heat well. So well, in fact, that researchers in 2002 reported that they could ignite such nanotubes with a camera flashbulb. Now, Riad Manaa, a chemist at the Lawrence Livermore (Calif.) National Laboratory, and his coworkers have demonstrated that this ignition process is suitable for detonating explosives.
To make its experimental pipe bomb, Manaa’s group placed 20 milligrams of iron-peppered carbon nanotubes into a funnel attached to a cylinder filled with the explosive K6.
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