Rainbow hues on the blade

[golok]

I have seen the Leek with its rainbow colours. Is it possible to create such colourful hues on the blade as well?

Is it done by heat treatment and can the colour pattern be consistent?

 

[Darren Ellis]

Hi Golok,

I believe it's done with a plasma vapor deposition process, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. I've used this process in research to create carbon nano-fibers in the past. If I ever get the free time and disposable cash, I'll probably build a set-up at my shop to do deposition coatings...but this may be a while...it's really not a complicated process...



-Darren

 

[mete]

Darren, carbon nanotubes are fascinating,supposed to be extremely strong , any potential for knives ?

 

[Darren Ellis]

Originally posted by mete
Darren, carbon nanotubes are fascinating,supposed to be extremely strong , any potential for knives ?

Hi Mete,

They are definitely an interesting material. Not sure of applications in bulk form, they clump together due to van der Waals' attraction... I think it'll still be a while before we start to see real world applications using this material.

We made vertically oriented CNTs for use as field emission devices. Since the aspect ratio is so large for CNTs, they produce a high electric field concentration at the tip and make electron extraction fairly easy. I've tested some that would produce as much as 5mA of current for long periods without failing, which is a huge current density considering the tip radius! There's a lot of research going on in nanostructured materials these days, especially since the passing of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, so I'd be on the lookout for exciting developments in the next 5 - 10 years in the areas dealing with fullerenes and CNTs.

-Darren