EXCITING FUTURE OF CARBON NANOTUBES

What Are They?

•Allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical structure•Can be capped on the ends with buckyballs or open ended•Composed entirely of sp2 bonds

Why Should We Care?• Strong like a steel

• Light as a aluminum

• Elastic like Plastic

• Excellent Chemical and thermal Stability

• Rich electronic properties

CNT

Two types of CNTsmulti walled

make incredibly strong fiberssingle walled

well suited for electrical and thermal conductionthe strength of a MWNT is ten times higher than any other known

fiber!

Single Walled CNT Multi Walled CNT

Length Less than 100nm up to several cm

Diameter .8-2nm 5-20nm

L/D 100- 4x10^7 20-2x10^6

Thermal Conductivity 3500 W/mK(>diamond)

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Tensile Strength - 100 Gpa

PROPERTIES

Synthesis of CNTs 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

Emerging application

• Transparent electrodes• Lithium batteries• Super capacitors• CNT based electronic components such as field effect transistor • Coating and films etc.

Demand of CNTs in various industries

Product opportunity of CNTs

• Solar heat electric generation• Power cables• Silicon replacement in semiconductor circuit• Aircraft body material• Wind power generator fan blade• Nanomachines- CNT based nanogear with

benzene molecule bonded as teeth.

Challenges and potential Potentials :– the new wonder material, can useful in many types of

industry ,especially in electronics applications– The field of research for CNTs has become so broad over the past

20 years that they are being tested for use in fields .

Challenges :– Too expensive .– toxicological issues.

Solutions• Driving down CNTs prices by mass production• Using waste materials for CNTs production such

as polyethylene which are good carbonaceous feed for CNTs production.

• Develop exposure standards for Inhalation Ingestion Skin contact Injection

APPLICATIONS

Biotechnology

Environment

Energy storage

Microelectronics

Coating

Films

Water filtersTransistorsBiosensorsscreens