Carbon Nano-tubes:

An Overview

An Undergraduate Research Paper

By Scott E. Wadley for the
Department of Aerospace Engineering at
The University of Kansas
 Presentation Overview
• Definition
• History
• Properties
• Current Applications
• Manufacturing Techniques
• Future Applications
• References
 Definition: Carbon Nanotubes
• Single-wall carbon
nanotubes are a new form of
carbon made by rolling up a
single graphite sheet to a
narrow but long tube closed
at both sides by fullerene-
like end caps..
• However, their attraction lies
not only in the beauty of their
molecular structures:
through intentional alteration
of their physical and
chemical properties
fullerenes exhibit an
extremely wide range of
interesting and potentially
useful properties.
•
Important History
1991 Discovery of multi-wall carbon nanotubes by S. Iijima
• 1992 Conductivity of carbon nanotubes
J. W. Mintmire, B. I. Dunlap and C. T. White
• 1993 Structural rigidity of carbon nanotubes
G. Overney, W. Zhong, and D. Tománek
• 1993 Synthesis of single-wall nanotubes by S Iijima and T Ichihashi
• 1995 Nanotubes as field emitters
By A.G. Rinzler, J.H. Hafner, P. Nikolaev, L. Lou, S.G. Kim, D. Tománek, P.
Nordlander, D.T. Colbert, and R.E. Smalley
• 1997 Hydrogen storage in nanotubes
A C Dillon, K M Jones, T A Bekkendahl, C H Kiang, D S Bethune and M J Heben
• 1998 Synthesis of nanotube peapods B.W. Smith, M. Monthioux, and D.E. Luzzi
• 2000 Thermal conductivity of nanotubes
Savas Berber, Young-Kyun Kwon, and David Tománek

• 2001 Integration of carbon nanotubes for logic circuits

P.C. Collins, M.S. Arnold, and P. Avouris
• 2001 Intrinsic superconductivity of carbon nanotubes
M. Kociak, A. Yu. Kasumov, S. Guéron, B. Reulet, I. I. Khodos, Yu. B.
Gorbatov, V. T. Volkov, L. Vaccarini, and H. Bouchiat
 Properties
• Metallic conductivity (e.g. the salts A3C60
(A=alkali metals))
• Superconductivity with Tc's of up to 33K (e.g.
the salts A3C60 (A=alkali metals))
• Ferromagnetism (in (TDAE)C60 - without the
presence of d-electrons)
• Non-linear optical activity
• Polymerization to form a variety of 1-, 2-, and
3D polymer structures
 Properties (2)
• The chart compares the
tensile strength of SWNT's to
some common high-strength
materials.
• Nanotubes can be either
electrically conductive or
semiconductive, depending
on their helicity.
• These one-dimensional
fibers exhibit electrical
conductivity as high as
copper, thermal conductivity
as high as diamond,
• Strength 100 times greater
than steel at one sixth the
weight, and high strain to
failure.
• Current length limits are
about one millimeter.
 Current Applications
• Carbon Nano-tubes
are extending our
ability to fabricate
devices such as:
• Molecular probes
• Pipes
• Wires
• Bearings
• Springs
• Gears
• Pumps
 Manufacturing Techniques
• Evaporation of
solid carbon in
arc discharge,
• Laser ablation,
• Catalytic
chemical
vapor
deposition of
carbon
containing
gases
• Catalytic
decomposition
of fullerenes
 Future Applications
• Molecular transistors.
• Field emitters.
• Building blocks for bottom-up
electronics.
• Smaller, lighter weight
components for next
generation spacecraft.
• Enable large quantities of
hydrogen to be stored in small
low pressure tanks.
• Space elevator, Instead of
blasting off for the heavens
astronauts could reach the ISS
as easily as they would a
department store: “Next floor,
LEO, watch your step please!”
 Nanotube Fun!
• You can see animations
of virtual nanotubes by
following these links: • You can create your
• http://www.photon.t.u-tok own virtual SWNT
yo.ac.jp/~maruyama/nan at:
otube.html • http://jcrystal.com/st
• Then select “Animation effenweber/JAVA/jn
Gallery” ano/jnano.html
• Also
http://www.pa.msu.edu/c
mp/csc/simindex.html
 References
1. http://www.pa.msu.edu/cmp/csc/nanotube.html

2. Localized and Delocalized Electronic States in Single-Wall Carbon

Nanotubes
T. Pichler, M. Knupfer, M. S. Golden, J. Fink, A. Rinzler and R. E.
Smalley
Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 4729 (1998)

3. http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/slup/CuttingEdge/May00/nanotubes.
html
4. Dr. Sander Tans and Prof. Dr. Cees Dekker of the section
Quantum Transport at TU Delft,          
5. http://www.photon.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~maruyama/nanotube.html
6. http://jcrystal.com/steffenweber/JAVA/jnano/jnano.html
7. http://www.pa.msu.edu/cmp/csc/nasa/
8. http://www.pa.msu.edu/cmp/csc/simindex.html
9. http://mmptdpublic.jsc.nasa.gov/jscnano/