CARBON NANOTUBES-properties, synthesis and

applications
Different Forms of Carbon
 A new form of carbon!
Graphite Diamond Fullerenes
SOME BASICS
CARBON NANOTUBES
 What Are Carbon Nanotubes?
• CNT can be described as
a sheet of graphite rolled
into a cylinder
• Constructed from
hexagonal rings of carbon
• Can have one layer or
multiple layers
• Can have caps at the
ends making them look
like pills

Information retrieved from: http://www.photon.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~maruyama/agallery/agallery.html

 How to understand the structure of a
carbon nanotube

Carbon nanotubes can be

considered as graphene
sheets rolled up into
seamless cylinders

Arrows are showing two

different rolling directions
which gives rise to armchair
and zigzag nanotube
The different types of carbon nanotubes

Armchair nanotube

Zigzag nanotube

Chiral nanotube
Structure of Carbon Nanotubes
Zig Zag

Armchair
 Classification of Symmetries
• Zigzag nanotubes
correspond to (n,0) or
(0,m) and have a chiral
angle of 0°, armchair
nanotubes have (n,n)
and a chiral angle of
30°, while chiral
nanotubes have
general (n,m) values
and a chiral angle of
between 0° and 30°.
The way to
find out how
the carbon
atoms are
arranged in a
molecule can
be done by
joining the
vector
coordinates
of the atoms.
By this way it
can be
identified
whether if the
carbon
atoms are
arranged in a
zig-zag,
armchair or
in a helical
shape.
 Nanotube Classification
• Chirality - twist of the
nanotube
• Described as the vector
R (n, m)
• Armchair vector, R
vector, angle
•  = 30º, armchair
nanotube

• 0º <  < 30º, chiral
nanotube
•  =60º, zigzag nanotube
 Information and image retrieved from: http://www.pa.msu.edu/cmp/csc/ntproperties/
TYPES OF CARBON NANOTUBES

1. Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

2. Multi Walled Carbon Nanotubes