What are Carbon

nanotubes.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon. These

cylindrical carbon molecules have interesting 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.

Properties
132,000,000:1 LengthTo-Diameter Ratio
Diameter of 3 to 9 nm
Lengths in the
millimeter range
Efficient electrical
conductors
Can act as both
thermal conductors
and thermal insulators

http://brent.kearneys.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2006/05/carbon_nanotube.jpg

How CNTs are made

Arc discharge
CNTs Can be found in the carbon soot of graphite
electrodes during an arc discharge involving high
current. This process yields CNTs with lengths up to 50
microns.

Laser Ablation
In the laser ablation process, a pulsed laser vaporizes a
graphite target in a high-temperature reactor while an
inert gas is inserted into the reactor. Nanotubes
develop on the cooler surfaces of the reactor as the
vaporized carbon condenses.

Other methods where CNTs are created:

- Chemical Vapor Decomposition
- Natural, incidental, and controlled flame environments

Properties
Strength
Electrical
Thermal
Defects
Toxicity

Strength Properties
Carbon nanotubes have the
strongest tensile strength of any
material known.

It also has the highest modulus of

elasticity.

Electrical Properties

If the nanotube structure is

armchair then the electrical
properties are metallic
If the nanotube structure is
chiral then the electrical
properties can be either
semiconducting with a very
small band gap, otherwise the
nanotube is a moderate
semiconductor
In theory, metallic nanotubes
can carry an electrical current
density of 4109 A/cm2 which
is more than 1,000 times
greater than metals such as
copper

Thermal Properties
All nanotubes are expected to be very good thermal
conductors along the tube, but good insulators laterally
to the tube axis.
It is predicted that carbon nanotubes will be able to
transmit up to 6000 watts per meter per Kelvin at room
temperature; compare this to copper, a metal well-known
for its good thermal conductivity, which transmits 385
watts per meter per K.
The temperature stability of carbon nanotubes is
estimated to be up to 2800 oC in vacuum and about 750oC
in air.

Defects
Defects can occur in the form of atomic
vacancies. High levels of such defects
can lower the tensile strength by up to
85%.
Because of the very small structure of
CNTs, the tensile strength of the tube is
dependent on its weakest segment in a
similar manner to a chain, where the
strength of the weakest link becomes
the maximum strength of the chain.

Health Hazards
According to scientists at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology,
carbon nanotubes shorter than about 200
nanometers readily enter into human lung
cells similar to the way asbestos does, and
may pose an increased risk to health.
Carbon nanotubes along with the majority
of nanotechnology, are an unexplored
matter, and many of the possible health
hazards are still unknown.

Applications
Electrical

Field emission in vacuum

electronics
Application in electrodes,
capacitors

Energy storage

Lithium batteries
Hydrogen storage

Biological

sensors
AFM tips
DNA sequencing

References

http://www.news-medical.net/news/22799.aspx
Chae, H.G.; Kumar, S. (2006). "Rigid Rod Polymeric Fibers".
Journal of Applied Polymer Science 100:791-802: 791.
doi:10.1002/app.22680.
Hong, Seunghun; Sung Myung (2007). "Nanotube
Electronics: A flexible approach to mobility". Nature
Nanotechnology 2: 207208. doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.89
Meo, S.B.; Andrews R. (2001). "Carbon Nanotubes:
Synthesis, Properties, and Applications". Crit. Rev. Solid
State Mater. Sci. 26(3):145-249: 145.
doi:10.1080/20014091104189.
Kolosnjaj J, Szwarc H, Moussa F (2007). "Toxicity studies of
carbon nanotubes". Adv Exp Med Biol. 620: 181204. PMID
18217344
Ebbesen, T. W.; Ajayan, P. M. (1992). "Large-scale synthesis
of carbon nanotubes". Nature 358: 220222.

THANK YOU

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