Carbon nanotubes, submicroscopic particles that have been on the cutting edge of technology for the past 20 years, are still far from old news. Everyday universities and research centers across the globe are discovering new methods to produce and utilize carbon nanotubes. From some of the more popular uses, such as reinforcing body armor to creating synthetic muscles carbon nanotubes in many ways are a sort of all-purpose enhancer that are very likely to grow more and more common in the near future. Carbon nanotubes are relatively new materials which have some very interesting and useful properties which have virtually boundless applications.
Carbon nanotubes are hollow cylinders that consist of one or more layers of graphene with open or closed ends. The most desirable carbon nanotubes are constructed strictly from hexagonal lattice structures, with the exception to their ends which require pentagons (Volder, 535).
These molecules were first discovered in 1991 by Sumio Iijima, a Japanese physicist. At the time they were called “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” and, thankfully, have since gone through a name change. Now, they are simply called carbon nanotubes or “buckytubes” named after the architect Buckminster Fuller who created futuristic domes in the 1930s which resembled the structure of the carbons in these tubes. However, the name was the least of the changes that were to come.
Later, scientists would discover that there were many more forms of carbon nanotubes. The first to be discovered were multi-walled, abbreviated ‘MWNT’, which is to say they had more than one layer of graphene surrounding them. It wasn’t until 1993 that the single-walled carbon nanotube, abbreviated ‘SWNT’, was discovered (Tománek). ...
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Volder, M. F. L. De, S. H. Tawfick, R. H. Baughman, and A. J. Hart. "Carbon Nanotubes: Present and Future Commercial Applications." Science 339 (2013): 535-39
Due to the varied properties and the scope of application which the CNTs possess, it is of paramount importance that CNTs are produced sufficiently at a competitive cost with the existing technology. The research over two decades, since the discovery of CNTs at Iijima’s Laboratory in 1991, has not helped in reduction of cost or production of CNTs of well-defined properties on a massive scale (Kumar, n.d.). This is mainly because of the complexity in the growth mechanism of CNTs. Extra ordinary properties and applications cannot be unleashed without the fundamental understanding of the growth mechanism of Carbon Nanotubes (Kumar, n.d.). There are several methods to produce Carbon Nanotubes in a laboratory setup. Some of widely used techniques include
Berger, M. (n.d.). Carbon Nanotubes could make t-shirts bulletproof. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from Nano Werk: http://nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotids1054.php
Carbon fibers were invented in the late 1800’s by Thomas Edison for use as filaments in the first lightbulbs. They were originally composed of cellulose based materials like cotton, which underwent pyrolysis: the process of being carbonised by baking at high temperatures. These early carbon fibres were used predominantly for their resistance to changes in temperature and also their ability to conduct, however lacked the high tensile strength of modern fibres. Nowadays these are created from petroleum based substances. Scientific developments allowed the discovery of high strength carbon fibres in the 1950’s and these first entered the market as a low density alternative to steel4.
Callister, Jr., William D. (2000). Materials Science and Engineering – An Introduction (5th ed.). John Wiley and Sons.
The advancement of material science over the past decade has allowed the scientists to create two structures of carbon namely carbon nanotubes and carbon nanowires. Nanowires are small wires with a diameter as small as 1 nanometre. These are being used to build tiny transistors with higher efficiency for computer chips and other electronic devices. In the last couple of years the carbon nanotubes have somewhat overshadowed the nanowires. A carbon nanotube is a cylinder full of carbon atoms. To put it into simpler words, nanotubes are simply sheet of carbon atoms in hexagonal shape. If this sheet is rolled into a form of a cylinder, you have a carbon nanotube. The properties of this carbon nanotube are based on how the sheet is rolled. Although they are formed from the same graphite sheet, their properties are dependent on the variations in length, thickness, type of helical structure and number of layers.
early 1990’s, no such material was known. In 1991, carbon nanotubes were discovered. Although not
Carbon fiber is a polymer and can be also called graphite fiber or carbon graphite. It consists of very thin strands of the element carbon aligned in a long axis and it has a high tensile strength and is very strong for its size. In fact, carbon fiber might be
Graphene refers to a single layer of graphite, with sp2 hybridized carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal...
...s in these structures are covalently bonded. Many types of fullerenes are arranged in large groups (many dozens of carbon atoms). Types of fullerenes discovered include C60 and C70. They can be used in products such as carbon nanotubes which in turn are used for electronic wires, science materials, and computer memory.
Nanotechnology can essentially change the internal structure of compounds. For example, pure carbon can take form of either a diamond or graphite. By arranging carbon into precise nanometre-scale structures, a new product is created that is up to thirty times stronger than steel, yet is one sixth the weight. This form of carbon is called a “nanotube” and is one of the earliest forms of nanotechnology.
In the individual layer of graphite , the carbon atoms are assembled to form an honeycomb lattice with a gap of about 0.142 mm, and the average distance between planes is 0.335 NM. Graphite are found in two forms, alpha (hexagonal) and beta (rhombohedra), which share a very similar physical properties. The hexagonal graphite form which can either be flat or distorted. The alpha form can be changed to the beta form through mechanical processing and the beta form regresses to the alpha form when it is subjected to heat above 1300 °C. “7”
Fullerenes are accepted as the fourth for of solid carbon after amorphous, graphite and diamond forms. Fullerene chemistry has provided a new dimension of aromatic and a new platform for discussion of mathematical techniques pertinent to large cages. They are basically, large carbon cage molecules. These fullerenes have attracted great interest a large number of physical and chemical properties. These properties of nanostructures strongly depend on this size, shape and chemical compositions. This property leads to very interesting and recent applications in medicinal chemistry, material science and nanotechnology. Functionalization, intercalation and doping by the addition of electron acceptors or donors are the way of modifying the properties of these nanostructures. Among these nanostructures carbon based nanomaterials such as nanotubes, nanocages, nanoshells,
There many different type of Carbon Nanotube. However there are 2 very important types of carbon nanotube. There need to be a clear picture so that Single-walled (SWCNT) can be distinguished from multi-walled (MWCNT) easily. It is pretty straight forward that the formation of SWCNTs was first reported in the June 17th issue of NATURE in 1993 by two papers released differently, one of them by Iijima and Ichihashi and the other done by Bethune (From IBM, California)
Graphene is a two-dimensional matrix of carbon atoms, arranged in a honeycomb lattice structure. Graphene has incredible strength to weight ratio, according to (Graphene Composites: Introduction And Market Status | Graphene-Info, 2017), “a single square-meter sheet of graphene would weigh just 0.0077 grams but could easily sustain up to four kilograms”. Graphene has a variety of amazing qualities a few examples are, it has a large surface area and great electrical and heat conductivity. (Graphene Composites: Introduction And Market Status | Graphene-Info, 2017) also states that “scientists and researchers are calling graphene “a miracle material” and expect it to revolutionize just about every industry known to
American Chemical Society. "Carbon nanotubes twice as strong as once thought." ScienceDaily, 16 Sep. 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.