David Britz

Who is David Britz?

David Alexander Britz is an American scientist and engineer who is best known for his contributions to the field of materials science and nanotechnology.

In 2004, Britz and his colleagues at Oxford and the University of Nottingham won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the world's smallest test tube, by performing chemical reactions inside of carbon nanotubes: "the nanotube has an inner diameter of approximately 1.2 nanometres, and a length of about 2 micrometers. Its volume is two zeptolitres, and around 2,000 molecules react in that space."

Britz graduated magna cum laude from the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science in the UK at the University of Oxford, Christ Church, Oxford college in the Department of Materials, and completed his doctoral thesis, titled "Structure and Bonding of Fullerenes and Nanotubes", in 2005. During his work at Oxford, David Britz created more than ten new carbon nanotube- and fullerene-based materials and processes.