Nanotechnology (sometimes shortened to "nanotech") is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale.

Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers Nanotechnology entails the application of fields of science as diverse as surface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, micro fabrication, etc. Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in medicine, electronics, biomaterials and energy production. Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, nanotechnology refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products. Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition. In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control

This extreme flexibility of the carbon atom lies behind all of organic and bio-chemistry. It is also responsible for the wide range of nano-carbon materials that are studied today.

Nanocomposites
Carbide-based nanocomposites have interesting chemical and physical properties and a large potential in e.g. low-friction coatings and electric contacts. The films typically consist of nanocrystalline carbide grains in an amorphous matrix. The properties are strongly dependent on the carbide and matrix structure and in some applications the matrix must be tuned to a thickness of 1-2 monolayers. This can be achieved by designed alloying where metastable solid solutions are formed during the sputtering process. The final properties of the films are dependent on the chemical properties of the alloying elements. We are currently studying a large number of different systems such as Ti-Ni-C, Ti-Fe-C, Nb-Si-C, Zr-Si-C and W-M-S-C (M=Ti, Cr..)
The highest tensile strength of an individual multi-walled carbon nanotube has been tested to be is 63 GPa

5.1 Structural 5.2 In electrical circuits 5.3 As electrical cables and wires 5.4 As paper batteries 5.5 Solar cells

5.6 Hydrogen Storage 5.7 Ultracapacitors 5.8 Radar Absorption 5.9 Medical 5.10 Other applications