Feasibility of a high-powered carbon nanotube thin-film loudspeaker

Andrew R. Barnard, David M. Jenkins, Timothy A. Brungart, Timothy M. McDevitt, Brian L. Kline

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

The thermophone, conceived in 1917 by Arnold and Crandall, was a unique thermoacoustic loudspeaker. The high heat capacity per unit area (HCPUA) of thin-film materials at that time limited the usefulness of thermophones. Recently, researchers of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have developed techniques to create a super-aligned thin-film of multi-walled CNTs, possessing extremely low HCPUA. This paper will discuss CNT thin-film loudspeaker theory as well as some initial investigations into the feasibility of a high-powered audio CNT speaker. The advantages of such a loudspeaker include: Ultra-lightweight, compact, no moving parts, low cost, and independence from expensive rare-earth materials.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)EL276-EL281
JournalJournal of the Acoustical Society of America
Volume134
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Acoustics and Ultrasonics

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