Carbon Nanotubes

David McDermott
Jake Borrajo
PHYS43 Modern Physics S!JC
Section "#"$
%nstructor& Dr' Younes (taiiyan
Modern Physics Project
)hat are Carbon nanotubes'

Carbon nanotubes *CNTs+ are

a,,otro-es o. carbon' /hese cy,indrica,
carbon mo,ecu,es have interestin0
-ro-erties that make them -otentia,,y
use.u, in many a--,ications in
nanotechno,o0y e,ectronics o-tics
and other .ie,ds o. materia,s science
as 1e,, as -otentia, uses in
architectura, .ie,ds' /hey e2hibit
e2traordinary stren0th and uni3ue
e,ectrica, -ro-erties and are e..icient
conductors o. heat' /heir .ina, usa0e
ho1ever may be ,imited by their
-otentia, to2icity'
Ho1 CN/s are made

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
%n the ,aser ab,ation -rocess a -u,sed ,aser va-ori4es
a 0ra-hite tar0et in a hi0h5tem-erature reactor 1hi,e an
inert 0as is inserted into the reactor' Nanotubes
deve,o- on the coo,er sur.aces o. the reactor as the
va-ori4ed carbon condenses'

Other methods where CNTs are

created
! Chemical "apor #ecomposition
! Natural$ incidental$ and controlled flame environments
Pro-erties

Stren0th

6,ectrica,

/herma,

De.ects

7ne5Dimensiona, /rans-ort

/o2icity
Stren0th Pro-erties

Carbon nanotubes have the stron0est

tensi,e stren0th o. any materia, kno1n'

%t a,so has the hi0hest modu,us o.

e,asticity'
Materia,
Youn08s
Modu,us */Pa+
/ensi,e
Stren0th *9Pa+
6,on0ation at
Break *:+
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6,ectrica, Pro-erties
%. the nanotube structure is
armchair then the e,ectrica,
-ro-erties are meta,,ic
%. the nanotube structure is chira,
then the e,ectrica, -ro-erties can
be either semiconductin0 1ith a
very sma,, band 0a- other1ise the
nanotube is a moderate
semiconductor

%n theory meta,,ic nanotubes can

carry an e,ectrica, current density
o. 4B;<
=
(Ccm
>
1hich is more than
;<<< times 0reater than meta,s
such as co--er
/herma, Pro-erties

(,, nanotubes are e2-ected to be very 0ood therma,

conductors a,on0 the tube but 0ood insu,ators ,atera,,y
to the tube a2is'

%t is -redicted that carbon nanotubes 1i,, be ab,e to

transmit u- to $<<< 1atts -er meter -er Ae,vin at room
tem-eratureD com-are this to co--er a meta, 1e,,5
kno1n .or its 0ood therma, conductivity 1hich
transmits 3@" 1atts -er meter -er A'

/he tem-erature stabi,ity o. carbon nanotubes is

estimated to be u- to >@<<
o
C in vacuum and about
#"<
o
C in air'
De.ects

De.ects can occur in the .orm o. atomic

vacancies' Hi0h ,eve,s o. such de.ects
can ,o1er the tensi,e stren0th by u- to
@":'

Because o. the very sma,, structure o.

CN/s the tensi,e stren0th o. the tube is
de-endent on its 1eakest se0ment in a
simi,ar manner to a chain 1here the
stren0th o. the 1eakest ,ink becomes
the ma2imum stren0th o. the chain'
7ne5Dimensiona, /rans-ort

Due to their nanosca,e dimensions e,ectron trans-ort in

carbon nanotubes 1i,, take -,ace throu0h 3uantum
e..ects and 1i,, on,y -ro-a0ate a,on0 the a2is o. the tube'
Because o. this s-ecia, trans-ort -ro-erty carbon
nanotubes are .re3uent,y re.erred to as Eone5
dimensiona,'F
(--,ications

Nanotubes ho,d the -romise o. creatin0

nove, devices such as carbon5based
sin0,e5e,ectron transistors that
si0ni.icant,y sma,,er than conventiona,
transistors'
NanotubesG e2ce,,ent stren0th to 1ei0ht
ratio
creates the -otentia,
to bui,d an e,evator to
s-ace'
Huantum Com-utin0

Nanotubes and other Iu,,erenes can be

.i,,ed 1ith mo,ecu,es that have either an
e,ectronic or structura, -ro-erty 1hich can
be used to re-resent the 3uantum bit
*Hubit+ o. in.ormation and 1hich can be
associated 1ith other adjacent Hubits'
Hea,th Ha4ards

According to scientists at the National

&nstitute of 'tandards and Technology$
carbon nanotubes shorter than about (00
nanometers readily enter into human lung
cells similar to the way asbestos does$
and may pose an increased ris) to health.

Carbon nanotubes along with the ma*ority

of nanotechnology$ are an une+plored
matter$ and many of the possible health
ha,ards are still un)nown.
!e.erences
htt-&CC111'ne1s5medica,'netCne1sC>>#=='as-2
Chae H'9'D Aumar S' *><<$+' J!i0id !od Po,ymeric IibersJ'
Journal of Applied Polymer Science -00./-!00(& #=;'
doi&;<';<<>Ca--'>>$@<'
Hon0 Seun0hunD Sun0 Myun0 *><<#+' JNanotube 6,ectronics& (
.,e2ib,e a--roach to mobi,ityJ' Nature Nanotechnology (& ><#K><@'
doi&;<';<3@Cnnano'><<#'@=
Meo S'B'D (ndre1s !' *><<;+' JCarbon Nanotubes& Synthesis
Pro-erties and (--,icationsJ' Crit. Rev. Solid State Mater. Sci.
(1234-55!(5/& ;4"' doi&;<';<@<C><<;4<=;;<4;@='

Ao,osnjaj J S41arc H Moussa I *><<#+' J/o2icity studies o. carbon

nanotubesJ' Adv Exp Med Biol. 1(0& ;@;K><4' PM%D ;@>;#344

6bbesen /' )'D (jayan P' M' *;==>+' JLar0e5sca,e synthesis o.

carbon nanotubesJ' Nature 350& >><K>>>' doi&;<';<3@C3"@>><a<