CARBON NANO TUBES

GURU KRUPA, N
IIIyr ,IBT

Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical carbon molecules having a size ranging from
2nm to 30 µm. The word nanotube is derived from their size, because the
diameter of a nanotube is on the order of a few nanometers (approximately
50,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair) and can be up to several
micrometers in length. A nanotube (also known as a buckytube) is a member of
the fullerene structural family. The current interest in Carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
is a direct consequence of the synthesis of buckminsterfullerene, C60, in 1985
and its derivatives thereafter.
Carbon nanotubes are found to have novel properties (outstanding mechanical,
electrical, thermal, and chemical properties: 100 times stronger than steel, best
field emission emitters, can maintain current density of more than 10-9 A/cm²,
thermal conductivity comparable to that of diamond) which make them
potentially useful in a wide variety of applications (e.g., optics, nanoelectronics,
composite materials, conductive polymers, sensors, etc.). CNTs are of two
types, namely, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multiwalled
nanotubes (MWCNTs) Electronic, molecular and structural properties of carbon
nanotubes are determined to a large extent by their nearly one dimensional
structure. Carbon nanotubes have a very large Young modulus in their axial
direction. The nanotube as a whole is very flexible because of the great length.
Therefore, these compounds are potentially suitable for applications in
composite materials that need anisotropic properties.
Carbon nanotubes are generally produced by three main techniques, arc
discharge, laser ablation and chemical vapour deposition.

In arc discharge, a vapour is created by an arc discharge between two carbon

electrodes with or without catalyst. Nanotubes self-assemble from the resulting
carbon vapour. In the laser ablation technique, a high-power laser beam
impinges on a volume of carbon –containing feedstock gas (methane or carbon
monoxide). At the moment, laser ablation produces a small amount of clean
nanotubes, whereas arc discharge methods generally produce large quantities of
impure material. In general, chemical vapour deposition (CVD) results in
MWNTs or poor quality SWNTs. The SWNTs produced with CVD have a large
diameter range, which can be poorly controlled. But on the other hand, this
method is very easy to scale up, what favours commercial production.
The as-produced SWNT by CVD contains a lot of impurities. The main
impurities in the soot are graphite (wrapped up) sheets, amorphous carbon,
metal catalyst and the smaller fullerenes. These impurities will interfere with
most of the desired properties of the SWNTs.

In order to increase the purity of the CNT’s produced, we generally go for the
following techniques discussed; they are oxidation, acid treatment, annealing,
ultrasonication, micro filtration, ferromagnetic separation, cutting,
functionalisation and chromatography techniques. Basically, these techniques
can be divided into two mainstreams, structure selective and size selective
separations. The first one will separate the SWNTs from the impurities; the
second one will give a more homogeneous diameter or size distribution.

Carbon nanotubes due to its, interesting properties, can be utilised in various

fields. Few in the list;
• Nanocatalyst
• Nanoelectronics : Nanosize chips, circuits, molecular wires, for high
speed communication, the next generation super computer.
• Nano-Optics & Nanophotonics: High efficiency microscopes, coat of
CNTS over glass, improves electron flow over glass in a particular manner etc.,
• Nano Magnetism : CNT can be made to be magnetic and can be used in
electromagnetic applications and as high efficient sensors.
• Nan Mecahnics: For NEMS & MEMS application.
• Nanostructures & Nano Composite Thin Films: As a coat over various
substrates and many more applications.
• Nano Composites & Fibres: High strength, low weight fibres made of
nano carbon particles improves the quality of composite & fibers, can be used
as chasis of vehichle and aeroplanes.

At the moment, nanotubes are too expensive and cannot be produced

selectively. Some future applications of carbon nanotubes look very promising.
All we need are better production techniques for large amounts of purified
nanotubes that have to be found in the near future. In our opinion, nanotubes
promises to open up a way to new applications that might be cheaper, lower in
weight and have a better efficiency.