Carbon nanotube
hideCarbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 28,000,000:1, which is significantly larger than any other material. These cylindrical carbon molecules have novel properties that make them potentially useful in many applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science, as well as potential uses in architectural fields. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat. Their final usage, however, may be limited by their potential toxicity.
Nanotubes are members of the fullerene structural family, which also includes the spherical buckyballs. The ends of a nanotube might be capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure. Their name is derived from their size, since the diameter of a nanotube is on the order of a few nanometers (approximately 1/50,000th of the width of a human hair), while they can be up to several millimeters in length (as of 2008). Nanotubes are categorized as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).
The nature of the bonding of a nanotube is described by applied quantum chemistry, specifically, orbital hybridization. The chemical bonding of nanotubes is composed entirely of sp2 bonds, similar to those of graphite. This bonding structure, which is stronger than the sp3 bonds found in diamonds, provides the molecules with their unique strength. Nanotubes naturally align themselves into "ropes" held together by Van der Waals forces. Under high pressure, nanotubes can merge together, trading some sp² bonds for sp³ bonds, giving the possibility of producing strong, unlimited-length wires through high-pressure nanotube linking.
For more information about Carbon nanotube, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with carbon nanotube
Using superconducting probes to get a picture of what it's like inside CNTs
Nov 20, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Carbon nanotubes are exciting for fundamental physics, and for potential technological applications," Nadya Mason tells PhysOrg.com. "However, we are generally limited in the way that we can study them. ...
LLNL licenses carbon nanotube technology to local company
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 12, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has exclusively licensed to Porifera Inc. of Hayward a carbon nanotube technology that can be used to desalinate water and can be applied to other liquid based separations.
Ultra-Long Carbon Nanotubes Could Serve as Future Transmission Lines
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 10, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (26) |
15
(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to carbon nanotubes, the majority of research so far has focused on small-scale applications. But now, a team of researchers from Rice University has created carbon nanotubes ...
Scientists develop DNA origami nanoscale breadboards for carbon nanotube circuits
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (7) |
0
In work that someday may lead to the development of novel types of nanoscale electronic devices, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology has combined DNA's talent ...
Nanotechnology: A risky frontier?
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
0
Inside a cramped back room at Rushford Hypersonic, a start-up headquartered in southeastern Minnesota, sits a cube-like machine that throws a mean atomic fastball. At the push of a button, the reactor hurls atoms toward a ...
Tiny Music Player Made from Wire Bridge (w/ Video)
Nov 04, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (17) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- In 2008, scientists built a loudspeaker made of carbon nanotubes that produced sound and music based on the thermoacoustic effect. Now, a different team of scientists has built a loudspeaker ...
Breakthrough in industrial-scale nanotube processing
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 02, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (22) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power ...
Next-generation microcapsules deliver 'chemicals on demand'
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 28, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Scientists in California are reporting development of a new generation of the microcapsules used in carbon-free copy paper, in which capsules burst and release ink with pressure from a pen. The new microcapsules ...
Study shows how carbon nanotubes can affect lining of the lungs
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 25, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory ...
Improved Electric Propulsion Could Boost Satellite Lifetimes
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 21, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have won a $6.5 million grant to develop improved components that will boost the efficiency of electric propulsion systems used to control ...
Advance in 'nano-agriculture': Tiny stuff has huge effect on plant growth
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 21, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (4) |
2
With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture.
Carbon nanotubes may cheaply harvest sunlight
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 19, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (9) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new alternative energy technology relies on the element most associated with climate change: carbon.
Fuel cells get a boost
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 15, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (17) |
6
Fuel cells, devices that can produce electricity from hydrogen or other fuels without burning them, are considered a promising new way of powering everything from homes and cars to portable devices like cellphones ...
Chemistry Team Seeks to Use Artificial Photosynthesis and Nanotubes to Generate Hydrogen Fuel with Sunlight
Oct 14, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of four chemists at the University of Rochester have begun work on a new kind of system to derive usable hydrogen fuel from water using only sunlight.
Researchers uncover recipe for controlling carbon nanotubes
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 14, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes hold promise for delivering medicine directly to a tumor; acting as sensors so keen they detect the arrival or departure of a single electron; replacing costly platinum in ...
