Physical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes
A compendium of the currently accepted physical properties of Carbon Nanotubes.
This page is intended for a general audience, nanotube researchers, and the interested public.
Compiled by Thomas A. Adams II as a part of the honors chemistry research project.


We want this site to list the most up-to-date properties of nanotubes. For this, we depend on your help. If you know of more precise measurements of a property listed, or suggest to include a new property, please submit the information including the full citation in the literature. We will try our best to include the update as fast as possible.

Introduction

Carbon nanotubes, long, thin cylinders of carbon, were discovered in 1991 by S. Iijima. [22] These are large macromolecules that are unique for their size, shape, and remarkable physical properties. They can be thought of as a sheet of graphite (a hexagonal lattice of carbon) rolled into a cylinder. These intriguing structures have sparked much excitement in the recent years and a large amount of research has been dedicated to their understanding. Currently, the physical properties are still being discovered and disputed. What makes it so difficult is that nanotubes have a very broad range of electonic, thermal, and structural properties that change depending on the different kinds of nanotube (defined by its diameter, length, and chirality, or twist). To make things more interesting, besides having a single cylindrical wall (SWNTs), nanotubes can have multiple walls (MWNTs)--cylinders inside the other cylinders. This web site is an ongoing effort to provide researchers, students, and other interested scientists with a central location for the exchange of current knowledge and information.

Note to Researchers

This page is meant to be a continually updated, useful resource for scientists researching the unknowns of nanotubes. That means that the support of the academic community is needed for this project to be fully successful. If you wish to submit a newly discovered property, update your current value, or present an alternate value, please submit your value and be sure to include the reference for it or the location where it can be found. Also, feel free to provide any comments or suggestions on anything in this site.

Jump To

Introduction | | Quick Facts | | Equilibrium Structure | | Optical Properties | | Electrical Transport | | Thermal Transport | | Elastic Behavior | | References | | Glossary | | Other Projects | | Contact

Special thanks to David Tomanek, my advisor for this project, for his generous help and encouragement.

Other Projects in Nanotube Research


Part one of the CEM 186H Project was to remaster The Nanotube Site, the world's gateway for carbon nanotube information. If you are looking for more information about nanotubes, this is the best place to start.


Part two of the research project was to be a part of a team of scientists making a proposal to NASA for research money for the study of carbon nanotubes. The research would focus on their use in space travel and other NASA interests. This project is still in the works.


The original CEM 185H Project that began my interest in nanotubes. Created by Anthony Kendall, Elizabeth Pfaff, and Thomas A. Adams II

Contact

Thomas A. Adams II
Email: adamsth3@msu.edu
Personal Web Site: http://www.msu.edu/~adamsth3
Telephone: (517) 355-0533

Last Updated 4-26-00

Since 4/7/00