JONATHAN DIEDERICH

ENGR 1050-400
DR. WESLEY C. SANDERS

CARBON NANOTUBES
INTRODUCTION:

In this paper I will be discussing important and interesting topics on Carbon Nanotubes

(CNT’s) as well as the potential revolution the can bring to this world. First I will explain what

Carbon Nanotubes are, second I will explain how they were found, and third I will shed light on

the potential they have to change our lives. Lastly I will apply the potential to today’s science

and see if we can’t find ways to understand how Carbon Nanotubes will further advance science

and benefit society.

WHAT ARE CARBON NANOTUBES:

What are Carbon Nanotubes, and why do I care? Well to understand the beauty of Carbon

Nanotubes, we first need to look at our past in technology. According to an article dedicated to

Carbon Nanotubes, “A carbon nanotube is a tube-shaped material, made of carbon, having a

diameter measuring on the nanometer scale.” So, what does that have to do with you? A lot.

Carbon nanotubes have wonderful magnetic, mechanical, and electronic properties. They are

over 100 times stronger than steel, but weigh much less. In fact in the same article I previously

quoted, they weigh one-sixth that of steel. Carbon nanotubes are the future of the science

industries’ research.

THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE OF CNT’S:

 The most stable form of Crystalline Carbon is Graphite. Graphite consists of layers of

carbon atoms. Graphene is the purest form of Graphite, being only one sheet of Graphite.

According to the “Structure of Carbon Nanotubes”, “Carbon Nanotubes are considered to be a

curved graphene sheet. Graphene sheets are seamless cylinders derived from a honeycomb

lattice, representing a single atomic layer of crystalline graphite.

The structure of a Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube (SWCT) is expressed in terms of one-

dimensional unit cell, defined by the vector

where a1 and a2 are unit vectors, and n and m are integers. A nanotube constructed in this way is

called an (n,m) nanotube.” So to make it simpler for the simpler minded people like me, Carbon

Nanotubes are exactly what they say they are, they are a seamless tube of the purest form of

graphite (graphene). Graphene has a hexagonal structure similar to chicken wire. Graphene is

basically one sheet of a bunch of carbon atoms. Take this sheet and roll it up, and you have a

Carbon Nanotube.

HISTORY OF CARBON NANOTUBES:

Who invented the Carbon Nanotube, and why haven’t I heard about it? They history of

Carbon Nanotubes started in the 1970s. It wasn’t until 1991 that Sumio Iijima had explained

what they were and how they are created that CNT’s had received legitimacy in the nano-world.

According the an article titled “The History of Carbon Nanotubes—Who Invented the
Nanotube?”, “He was credited with the first visual impression of the tubes of atoms that roll up

and are capped with fullerene molecules by many scientists in the field. Some state that his

discovery just wasn’t taken very seriously at the time because science did not know how this

discovery could impact scientific research.” In 1993 Iijima and Donald Bethune found Single

Walled Nanotubes (SWNT) which would help the scientific community understand the potential

these had.

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF CNT’S:

Traveling Industry

So, with everything that has been said, you may be asking yourself why I am talking

about all of this nonsense, and what affect it has on your life. Well, this nonsense just may

change your life someday. When they were found, scientists believed that they would

revolutionize the the electronics industry as well as the traveling industry. According to the

National Nanotechnology Office, “Use of composites reinforced with high-strength carbon

nanotube fibers in terrestrial and air transportation vehicles could enable a 25% reduction in their

overall weight, reduce U.S. oil consumption by nearly 6 million barrels per day by 2035 , and

reduce worldwide consumption of petroleum and other liquid fuels by 25%. This would result in

the reduction of CO2 emissions by as much as 3.75 billion metric tons per year.” () How about

that? Are you still asking how this would affect you?

Electronics
 Not only will it affect transportation/consumption, but it will largely impact our U.S.

global competitiveness. The National Nanotechnology Office also stated that, “Global

production of CNTs, currently in excess of several thousand tons per year [8], has enabled their

incorporation into various commercial products ranging from rechargeable batteries to sporting

goods.” How about having a phone that you can recharge very quickly, or a phone’s batterie that

takes a week to fully use? That would change everyone’s life.

Conductivity

In an article titled, “Carbon Nanotubes, Properties and Applications” it is stated that,

“The record-setting anisotropic thermal conductivity of CNTs is enabling many applications

where heat needs to move from one place to another. Such an application is found in electronics,

particularly advanced computing, where uncooled chips now routinely reach over 100oC.

The technology for creating aligned structures and ribbons of CNTs [D.Walters, et al., Chem.

Phys. Lett. 338, 14 (2001)] is a step toward realizing incredibly efficient heat conduits. In

addition, composites with CNTs have been shown to dramatically increase their bulk thermal

conductivity, even at very small loadings.

FURTHERING SCIENCE:

How can Carbon Nanotubes advance the evolution of mankind? Nanotubes can do a lot

of things. They can create traveling that is energy efficient. They can create lighter weight

vehicles which would reduce the amount of fuels we waste. They can change advance the

technology industry, for example, Carbon Nanotubes will help with cellphones that die quickly.
They can potentially decrease charging time drastically. They will help with computers and their

weight. Believe it or not, they can improve the health of every person that carries around a

computer, because they will decrease the weight of the computers. My wife suffers from back

pain, and carrying around a heavy computer isn’t helping at all.

Carbon Nanotubes will advance science. Once we can effectively use them, science will

change it’s perspective one technology, it will change its perspective on engineering, and product

development. The traveling agencies will change drastically, and how quick we get from point A

to point B will be a lot quicker than now.

CONCLUSION:

Carbon Nanotubes are amazing. They are an incredible find in the science industry, and

they will revolutionize our future with regards to travel, phones, electronics, fuel consumption

and they will help us financially due to the decrease in fuel money. Thanks to Sumio Iijima, our

future is about to become a lot better than we could ever imagine. Obviously there is still a lot to

learn about CNT’s, but for now, we can only imagine what good they will bring to this world.

Anyone who studies these amazing structures knows that there are many applications for them. I

have listed only a few.

 Works Cited

CNT Technology Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2018, from https://

www.nanoscience.com/applications/education/overview/cnt-technology-overview/

Carbon Nanotubes. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://phycomp.technion.ac.il/

~talimu/structure.html

Introduction to Nanotechnology. (2009, June 17). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://

nanogloss.com/nanotubes/the-history-of-carbon-nanotubes-who-invented-the-nanotube/

#axzz5BZNC1GUT

Petreski, D., Ms. (2014, September 15). Realizing the Promise of Carbon Nanotubes.

Retrieved March 30, 2018, from http://www.nano.gov/sites/default/files/pub_resource/

2014_nni_cnt_tech_meeting_report.pdf