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NTSE - Nano Technology Science Education

(Carbon Nanotube)
Research October 2016
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.27326.89928

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4 authors, including:
Recep Akdeniz
Gebze Technical University
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Retrieved on: 21 November 2016

NTSE - Nano Technology Science Education

Project No: 511787-LLP-1-2010-1-TR-KA3-KA3MP

TEACHERS GUIDELINES
CARBON NANOTUBES

Content
1. Foreword for Teachers
2. Introduction
3. Learning Process
4. Conclusion
5. Evaluation
The lesson plan is formed to help high school science teachers in order to provide an introduction
to carbon nanotubes in a classroom setting and make use of the information provided on the
web site (www.ntse-nanotech.eu ).
Target Group

Student groups aged 15-18

Duration

90 minutes

School Subject Areas

Physics - Chemistry

Lesson Goal
The "Carbon Nanotubes" lesson provides the opportunity to explore and understand the carbon
nanotube that is an allotrope of carbon. Students will learn about structures of carbon nanotube,
their properties and the application areas of carbon nanotubes. It is aimed to help students
visualize CNTs which they cannot see by naked eye and to raise their interest in both CNTs and
nanotechnology.
Lesson Objectives
To learn about CNTs
To learn about structure of CNTs
To learn about the properties of CNTs
To learn about the way todays technology works
Required Student Pre-knowledge
To know the following terms that exists in the reading text:
Carbon
Allotrope
Covalent bonding
Anticipated Learner Outcomes
To understand the term nanotube
To link carbon nanotubes with nanotechnology
To comprehend the application areas of CNTs and why they are used.

Material & Resources

Reading text for the students
Experiment Video (Absorption ability of Carbon Nanotubes)
Student Assessment or Evaluation
Student worksheet
Student quiz
Extension Idea
Assigning the students learn about Materials Science and Engineering.

FOREWORD FOR TEACHERS

Short Description of the Activity and Short Theoretical Background
The carbon atom seems to be the most wonderful of all the elements in the periodic table. As well
as being the basis of life, it is one of the most important building blocks of nanotechnology.
Carbon has three allotropes: graphite, diamond and fullerenes.
Fullerenes form a family that have many molecules formed of various numbers of carbon; like the
Buckyball and Carbon Nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes can be produced by arc discharge, laser ablation, high-pressure carbon
monoxide disproportionation, and chemical vapour deposition methods. But, the most amazing
thing is that CNTs can also be produced when lightning happens! Carbon nanotubes, composed
of interlocking carbon atoms, are 1000 times thinner than human hair and can be 100 times
stronger than steel.
The amazing properties of carbon nanotubes provide many application areas. One of the most
important properties of CNTs is the hydrophobic property. Because of this characteristic, carbon
nanotubes tend to agglomerate avoiding their dispersion in solvents.

Figure 1: Biomimicry of Lotus Effect with CNTs (*)

Artificial lotus leaf structures were fabricated on cotton substrates via the controlled assembly of
carbon nanotubes onto the surface of cotton substrates. Both pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
and surface modified carbon nanotubes were used as building blocks to biomimic the surface
microstructures of lotus leaves at the nanoscale (See Lotus Effect experiment in the Virtual Lab).
Cotton fabrics, which otherwise have perfect water absorbability; have been endowed with superhydrophobic properties. The method provides a bionic route to create hydrophobic textiles.
Furthermore, considering the novel mechanical and electric properties of carbon nanotubes, these

carbon nanotubes coated cotton fabrics will find potential application in sensing, conducting and
special textiles.(*)

INTRODUCTION
Coal and diamonds, sand and computer chips, cancer and healthy tissue: throughout history, variations in
the arrangement of atoms have distinguished the cheap from the cherished, the diseased from the healthy.
Arranged one way, atoms make up soil, air, and water; arranged another, they make up ripe strawberries.
Arranged one way, they make up homes and fresh air; arranged another they make up ash and smoke."
Eric Drexler
Teacher starts a brainstorming session by asking the following question: Each day we deal with
many materials. Can you specify carbon based materials around you?
Teacher lets students to show/express the carbon based materials in their lives and helps them to
classify them as organic and inorganic.
Teacher continues by asking the question: How about pure carbon?
Teacher helps students to recall their knowledge of allotrope and allotropes of carbon. Teacher
lets the students find out where allotropes of carbon are used in daily life.
Why do you think the Fullerenes are so important in future science and technology?

Teacher lets the students to express their opinions about the development in science and
technology and helps them to understand the importance of carbon and Fullerens in the
innovation of science and technology. The molecules of Fullerene family are very suitable for the
improvement of new molecules as carrier molecules by absorbing or by attaching other kinds of
atoms in the desired fields of technology.

LEARNING PROCESS
Before the Lecture
Assignment:
Providing the students the text on Carbon Nanotubes and asking them to read it.
Before Class Preparations:
Designing the room to watch the experiment videos.
Preparing the materials needed in activities explained below.
In the Lecture
Step-1: Asking the following questions about the text.
Question 1: What is the most important talent of spiders?
Spiders have an amazing talent of producing spider silk and spider web.
(Teacher may also ask the student the other talents/characteristics of spiders and ask whether
they know specific kinds of spiders or not and have a small discussion about spiders.)

Question 2: What is so special of a spider web / spider silk?

The most important characteristic of spider web is its strength. The strength of a spider silk
is much greater than steel. It also has great elasticity and it is durable against cold.
Step -2: Starting the Activity-1 described in Students Guidelines.
Step -3: Asking the following question about the activity.
Asking students to recognize the properties of spider silk, and factors that form these properties
(by mentioning legos-springs-zippers).
Question 3: What is the property of the yellow fabric shown in the video?
The yellow fabric is made of spider silk produced by about 1.063.000.000 spiders in a
controlled environment. The fibers of the fabric is super strong and the fabric is very soft.
Question 4: Is it possible to produce man-made spider silk?
Scientists copied the genes of a spider that produces spider silk and put into goats to get
milk that contains spider silk protein! This scientific process is called transgenic.
Scientists separate the silk protein from the milk that these goats produce.
Asking students to think about possible uses of technological replications of spider silk.
Step -4: Starting the Activity-2 described in Students Guidelines.

Asking students to recognize the allotropes they know and they dont know.

Step -5: Asking the following question about the activity.

Question 5: What are the allotropes of carbon?
Graphite, diamond and fullerenes are the allotropes of carbon. Fullerenes form a wide
family with many molecules. The smallest Fullerene molecule is the C molecule. The
most known molecules are Buckyball and Carbon Nanotubes.
Question 6: What are carbon nanotubes?
Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical shape.
Step -6: Starting the Activity-3 described in Students Guidelines.
Asking students to recognize the production methods of CNTs.
Step -7: Asking the following question about the activity.
Question 7: What are the main production methods of CNTs?
Arc discharge, chemical vapour deposition, laser ablation, and electrolysis which is a
similar technique to arc discharge.
Question 8: Can CNTs be produced naturally?
CNTs can be produced naturally by a lightning.
Question 9: What are the types of CNTs?
There are two types of CNTs: Single Walled CNTs and Multi Walled CNTs.
Step -8: Starting the Activity-4 described in Students Guidelines.
Step -9: Asking the following question about the activity.

Question 10: What is the difference between SWCNT and MWCNT?

SWCNT is formed of a single sheet of graphite, while MWCNT is formed of more sheets
of graphite.
Question 11: What are the general properties of CNTs?
The stiffness of CNTs is 5 times greater than steel.
All armchair SWCNTs exhibit metallic properties. But CNTs can be either conductive or
semi-conductive.
The electrical conductivity of CNTs can be as high as copper.
The thermal conductivity can be as high as diamond.
100 times stronger than steel.
Step -10: Starting the Activity-5 described in Students Guidelines.
Asking students to recognize the water and oil absorption of materials made of CNTs.
Step -11: Asking the following question about the activity.
Question 12: Why do you think two sponges absorbed significantly different amount of water?
Black sponge is made up of a hydrophobic polymer. Because of this, sponge made of this
sponge does not absorb water much.
Question 13: The oil absorption property of CNTs is amazing. How can we take the advantage
of oil absorption of CNTs?
In the near future, deep sea petrol pipes, and later, space elevators and are thought to be
covered with materials made of CNTs.
Question 14: Do you think it is possible to replicate or mimic the hydrophobic property of Lotus
leaves by using CNTs?
(Leading the students into a brainstorming session, making them find out what can be done.)
Artificial lotus leaf structures are fabricated on cotton samples via controlled assembly of
carbon nanotubes onto the surface of cotton samples. Considering the novel mechanical
and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes, these carbon nanotubes coated by cotton
fabrics will find potential application in sensing, conducting, and forming special textiles.
Question 15: Why do you think microfiber cloth absorbs more water than the ordinary yellow
clothes?
Microfiber cloth has much more pores because of the size of its fibers. As the size of the
fibers decrease, the number of pores increases.
Step -12: Starting the Activity-6 described in Students Guidelines.
Step -13: Starting the Activity-7 described in Students Guidelines.
Again, leading the students into a brainstorming session after Activity-6 and Activity-7.

CONCLUSION
Teacher wraps up the lesson by discussing the following:
What do you think about the importance of carbon and its allotropes in technology of the
future?

EVALUATION
A. Write (T) True or (F) False for the statements below. (5 minutes)
1. Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon.
2. Carbon Nanotubes are insulators.
3. Carbon nanotubes are 5 times stronger than steel.

( )
( )
( )

B. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate expression. (5 minutes)

1. Spider silk is times as strong as steel.
2. .. are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical
nanostructure.
3. The electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes are as ................. as copper.
4. When
a
graphene
sheet
is
rolled
up,
a
.. is formed.
5. The types of single walled CNTs are; , ..
and.

KEY
A. Write True (T) or False (F)
1- T
2- F
3- F
B.Fill in the blanks
1- Five
2- Carbonnanotubes
5- armchair, zigzag, and chiral

3- high

4- single walled CNTs

REF* Artificial lotus leaf structures from assembling carbon nanotubes and their applications in
hydrophobic textiles. Yuyang Liu, Jing Tang, Ronghua Wang, Haifeng Lu, Li Li, Yeeyee
Kong, Kaihong Qi and J. H. Xin, J. Mater. Chem., 2007,17, 1071-1078.