Muhil's Cup of Tea

Carbon Nanotubes

Reference Site: http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~scsharip/tubes.htm

A Brief Annotation:
Carbon nanotubes are long, thin cylinders of carbon that are one of the "strongest and stiffest fibres known." They were first discovered using an evaporator in 1991 by S. Iijima. Since then, carbon nanotubes have been researched with papers being published by the thousands. The fascinating aspect of carbon nanotubes is its ability to be formed into stable structures (like graphite and diamond) and resist breaking under pressure. It also has heat generating capabilities within room temperature. Carbon nanotubes exist due to the "synthesis of buckminsterfullerene, C60."

The physical properties are currently being discovered and disputed; however, even with skeptics, carbon nanotubes show a promising future due to the applications that they are being used in. The physical properties of carbon nanotubes are highly complex but in short are both strong and durable as well as light in weight. The electronic properties of it are just as impressing due to its conductivity rates. These combined characteristics give it much potential in the field of aerospace, electrical, and mechanical engineering. Wondrous prototype inventions from carbon nanotubes are spurring into existence. Ideas such as a "space elevator" have origin bases from carbon nanotubes and mini inventions are beginning to leak out, some as unfathomable as... a paper battery.