Carbon Nanotubes with their extraordinary properties in terms of strength, thermal and electrical properties are poised to have a big impact on the future of material sciences, electronics and nanotechnology. Owing to their specialized structures and minute diameter, they can be utilized in the creation of ultra-thin energy storage devices which in today’s world where electronics is getting smaller could redefine the electronics market and replace capacitors and batteries they way we see them now. Research and development around carbon nanotubes is moving ahead yielding new forms, new applications and new material based on this unique structure and we take a look into this breakthrough in science and the innovation that surrounds it as it promises to be a large part or small devices of the future.

Introduction to Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs; also known as buckytubes) are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nano structure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, 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 thermal conductors.

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 18 centimeters in length (as of 2010). Nanotubes are categorized as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).