Carbon Nanotubes:

The exciting future of fullerenes

Swarnalata Patro
Regd. No- 1361022023
M.TECH - VLSI Design & ES
Dept.- E & I Engg.
I.T.E.R, S O A UNIVERSITY


Contents
1. Introduction
2. Synthesis of carbon nanotube
3. Advantages and disadvantages
4. Applications
5. Conclusion
6. Reference










Introduction
Discovered in 1991 by Iijima
Allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical structure
Unique material properties
Nearly one-dimensional structures
CNT is configurationally equivalent to a two dimensional
graphene sheet rolled into a tube.
CNT is a tubular form of carbon with diameter as small as
1nm.
Length: few nm to microns.
A CNT is characterized by its Chiral Vector:
C
h
= n
1
+ m
2
,
What is a Carbon Nanotube?

Types of carbon nanotube
Nanotubes are categoried as:
single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs)
It consist of a single tube of
graphene.


Multiwalled nanotubes(MWNTs)
It composed of several
concentric tubes of graphene
filled one inside other.

Properties of CNTs

CNTs have High Electrical Conductivity due to
ballastic transport.
CNTs have Very High Tensile Strength.
CNTs are Highly Flexible.
CNTs have High Thermal Conductivity.
CNTs have a Low Thermal Expansion Coefficient.
CNTs are Good Electron Field Emitters.
CNTs have a High Aspect Ratio (length = ~1000 x
diameter.)
Extremely high Youngs modulus.




Comparison between CNTs and steel
Nanotubes Steel
Youngs Modulus (GPa) 1000 210
Tensile strength (GPa) 63 1.2
Yield stress (GPa) 52 0.83
Density (g cm
-3
) 1.35 8
Synthesis of carbon nanotube
Arc discharge

Laser ablation

Arc Discharge method
First knowingly created by this
method in 1991 by Sumio Iijima.

A charge of 50-100A is passed
between two graphite electrodes in a
helium atmosphere.

Carbon condenses on the cathode
forming multi-walled nanotubes.

By adding Cobalt or Nickel to the
anode, single walled nanotubes can be
produced.
Laser Ablation method
Invented by Richard Smalley.
Vaporizes graphite at 1200 C.
An inert gas is bled into the
chamber while a graphite target
is vaporised by a pulsed laser.
A hot vapor plume forms and
expands and cools rapidly.
Carbon molecules condense to
form large clusters.
By adding a catalyst of Cobalt or
Nickel, single-walled nanotubes
can be produced.





Purification of CNT

Nanotubes usually contain a large amount of impurities such as
metal particles, amorphous carbon, and catalyst.
There are different steps in purification of nanotubes:
Air Oxidation
Acid Refluxing
Application of CNT
Electrical cables and wires
Actuators
Paper batteries
Solar cells
Loud speaker and earphone
Medical
Hydrogen storage
Electrical circuits





Process of making paper battery
Cathode: Carbon Nanotube
(CNT)

Anode: Lithium metal (Li+)

Electrolyte: All electrolytes
(incl. bioelectrolytes like
blood, sweat and urine)

Separator: Paper (Cellulose )

Paper battery
Biodegradable & non
toxic
Easily reusable &
recyclable
No leakage & overheating
Lightweight, thin, flexible
Durable
Can function at a wide
range of temperatures

Advantages of CNT
Extremely small and lightweight
Excellent replacements for metallic wires
Resources required to produce them are plentiful, and
many can be made with only a small amount of
material
Resistant to temperature changes
Improves conductivity and mechanical properties of
plastics and composites

Disadvantages of CNT
Despite all the research, scientists still don't
understand exactly how they work
Extremely small, so are difficult to work with
Currently, the process is relatively expensive to
produce the nanotubes
expensive to implement this new technology in and
replace the older technology

Conclusion
Carbon nanotubes could play a vital role in this
upcoming revolution for their remarkable structural,
electrical and mechanical properties.
Lack of commercially feasible synthesis and
purification methods is the main reason that carbon
nanotubes are still not widely used and nanotubes are
too expansive nowadays.
Some future applications of carbon nanotubes look
very promising for large amounts of purified
nanotubes that found in the near future.

Reference

1. A. Svizhenko, M. P. Anantram, and T. R. Govindan, Ballistic
transport and electrostatics in metallic carbon nanotubes, IEEE
Trans. Nanotechnology, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 557-562, 2005.
2. P. L. McEuen, Michael S. Fuhrer, and Hongkun Park, "Single-
Walled Carbon Nanotube Electronics," IEEE Trans.
Nanotechnology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 78-85, 2002.
3. P. Avouris, J. Appenzeller, R. Martel, and S. J. Wind, Carbon
nanotube electronics, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 91, no. 11, pp.
1772-1784, 2003.
4. R. Martel, T. Schmidt, H. Shea, T. Hertel, and P. Avouris, Single-
andmulti-wall carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, Appl. Phys.
Lett.,vol. 73, no. 17, pp. 2447-2449, 1998.



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