Carbon Nanotubes

Name of the Contributor: Dr. Rina Dutta

Department: Physics
Date of submission: 2 January, 2019
No of words: 420
Brainware University - https://www.brainwareuniversity.ac.in/program.php
Summary:
In this article I have discussed about single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs and
MWNTs) and their physical properties. Carbon nanotubes are formed by rolling graphene sheets.

Key Words:
• Graphene
• Fullerene
• Bandgap
• Honeycomb lattice
• SWNTs and MWNTs

Contents:
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one dimensional systems (allotropes of carbon) with a cylindrical
nanostructure. It is formed by rolling a single sheet of graphite (called graphene). This rolling can be
done at different angles and curvatures demonstrating in different nanotube properties. Their diameter
typically varies in the range 0.4–40nm. These cylindrical carbon molecules have exceptional
properties, which are very important in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and material sciences etc.
Due to the material's exceptional strength and stiffness, nanotubes have been constructed with a
length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1. Carbon nanotubes have extraordinary electrical and
mechanical properties and have large thermal conductivity. Nanotubes are members of the fullerene
structural family. Carbon nanotubes are formed by one-atom-thick sheets of carbon, called graphene
which are rolled at specific and discrete ("chirall") angles, and the combination of the rolling angle and
radius decides the nanotube properties. Normally, nanotubes are categorized as single-walled
nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi- walled nanotubes (MWNTs). Nanotubes are experiencing van-der-
waals forces, more specifically pi-stacking. The band gap of SWNTs can vary from zero to about 2 eV
and their electrical conductivity can show metallic or semiconducting behavior. Single-walled
nanotubes are miniaturizing electronics structure. The most basic building block of these systems is
an electric wire, with diameter of the order of few nanometer. One useful application of SWNTs is in
the development of the first intermolecular field-effect transistor(FET). Multi-walled nanotubes
(MWNTs) consist of concentric multiple rolled layers of graphene. There are two models that can be
used to describe the multi-walled carbon nanotubes. In the Russian Doll model, graphene sheets are
arranged in concentric cylinders. In the Parchment model, a single sheet of graphite is rolled in around
itself, like a rolled newspaper. The distance between layers in multi-walled nanotubes is close to the
distance between graphene layers in graphite, approximately 3.4 Å. Its individual tubes can be
described as SWNTs, which can be metallic or semiconducting. Carbon nanotubes are the strongest
and stiffest materials. The carbon atoms in graphene are formed a planar honeycomb lattice structure,
in which each atom is connected via a strong chemical bond to three neighboring atoms. This strength
results from the covalent sp2 hybrid bonds formed between the individual carbon atoms. Bacause of
that it is strongest and has large elastic properties. Except graphene (two-dimensional semimetal),
carbon nanotubes are either metallic or semiconducting. Carbon nanotubes have properties like
absorption, fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy etc. All nanotubes are expected to have good thermal
conductivity. For SWNTs the thermal conductivity at room temperature is about 3500 Wm−1K−1.

Fig1. Single walled and Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube.