Carbon Nanotubes Essay

Good morning/ afternoon ladies and gentleman, my name is Gurkaran Banipal, and my presentation is on Carbon Nanotubes or also known as CNTs. Did you know theses nanotubes are constructed with a length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material present and they are lighter than plastic, stronger than steel, harder than diamond, and conduct electricity better than copper. Carbon nanotubes are a revolutionary development that has a very distinguished structure and unique properties which allows it to have significant applications in the fields of: nanotechnology, electronics, and other fields of materials science and technology that are applying to our everyday lives and improving them without us even noticing, and have a very small negative impact on our environment compared to their potential contributions to our world. The structure the CNTs possess is so unique and distinct it allows it to have very peculiar properties. The structure of the CNTs allows it to have very unique bonding properties, strength, electrical conductivity and Kinetic properties that are helping to change the world we know. I will discuss all of these properties, but first let me properly introduce you to these aforementioned Carbon Nanotubes.

A Carbon Nanotube is a tube-shaped material, made of carbon, having a diameter measuring on the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, about the thickness of a human hair, and CNTs are hundreds to thousands of nanometers long. CNTs are part of the fullerene structural family, which means they are molecules composed of only carbon in the configuration of a tube. CNTs have a hollow structure with the walls formed in a hexagonal or even diamond shape, an...

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... a slight downside. The Carbon Nanotubes have been found to have a toxic effect on the growth of algae. Although it is not alarming we must proceed with caution while developing CNTs as they can cause future harm. High concentrations of nanotubes form a layer that partially blocks sunlight and they inspire algae to cluster together depriving them of light and room. This is however a very small problem and in this situation the good outweighs the bad. The unique structure of Carbon Nanotubes give it even more unique properties that have made way for truly great possibilities in Science. There is too much upside to CNTs to ignore their current and potential applications over a minimal if that, threat. CNTs are a great possibility for the future and I am confident it will not only lead to many new innovations in technology, but will make the world a much better place.