CARBON NANOTUBES

INTRODUCTION
Carbon Nanotubes:
Allotropes of carbon Seamless cylinder of rolled up hexagonal network of carbon atoms, which is

capped with half a fullerene molecule at the end. Cylindrical carbon molecules -Properties that make them potentially useful in applications in : Nanotechnology Electronics Optics Fields of Materials Science. Exhibit extraordinary strength, unique electrical properties and are efficient conductors of heat.

History of Carbon Nanotubes

Discovered in 1991 by Sumio Ijjima of the NEC Corporation.
Studying the surfaces of graphite's electrodes used in an electric-

arc-discharge. Started a new direction in carbon research which are overtaking fullerenes in the race toward the technological marketplace. Richard Smalleys group described an alternative method of preparing single-walled nanotubes in 1996. This involved the laservaporization of graphite, and resulted in a high yield of single-walled tubes with unusually uniform diameters. The ability to manufacture large amounts of carbon fibrils led to a great amount of research into the properties of carbon nanotubes.

 The initial theoretical study of their electronic structure was soon followed

with the work by Dresselhaus and co-workers at MIT (Dresselhaus et al. 1992; Saito et al. 1992a; Saito et al. 1992b)
Since then, the fabrication of nanotubes has been improved by several

groups, and methods other than arc discharge have been explored.
The main issues are to separate the nanotubes from other forms of carbon

also produced in the fabrication process and to increase the yield of singlewalled nanotubes (SWNT) for potential applications. Following Iijima's work, macroscopic quantities of MWNT were produced with an improved arc discharge method by Ebbesen and coworkers at NEC (Tsukuba) (Ebbesen and Ajayan 1992).

STRUCTURE
Carbon atoms are sp2 bonded

Preparation of Nanotubes
The techniques are:

Arc Discharge Method ii. Laser Ablation iii. Chemical Vapor Deposition(CVD) iv. High Pressure Carbon Monoxide (HiPCO)
i.
Most of these processes take place in vacuum or with process gases. Large quantities of nanotubes can be synthesized by these methods.ues have been developed to produce nanotubes.

ARC DISCHARGE METHOD

Observed in 1991 in the carbon soot of graphite electrodes during an arc

discharge, by using a current of 100 amps, which was intended to produce fullerenes. First macroscopic production of carbon nanotubes was made in 1992 by two researchers at NECs Fundamental Research Laboratory. The method used was as in 1991. During this process, the carbon contained in the negative electrode sublimates because of the high discharge temperatures. Because nanotubes were initially discovered using this technique, it has been the most widely-used method of nanotubes synthesis. The yield for this method is up to 30 percent by weight and it produces both single and multi-walled nanotubes with lengths up to 50 micrometers with few structural defects.

LASER ABLATION
In this process, a Pulsed Laser vaporizes a graphite target in a high-

temperature reactor while an Inert Gas is bled into the chamber. Nanotubes develop on the cooler surfaces of the reactor as the vaporized carbon condenses. A water-cooled surface may be included in the system to collect the nanotubes. Developed by Dr. Richard Smalley and co-workers at Rice University, who at the time of discovery of carbon nanotubes, were blasting metals with a laser to produce various metal molecules. When they heard of the existence of nanotubes they replaced the metals with graphite to create multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Later that year the team used a composite of graphite and metal catalyst particles to synthesize single-walled carbon nanotubes. It yields around 70% and produces primarily single-walled carbon nanotubes with a controllable diameter determined by the reaction temperature. Expensive than Arc Discharge and Chemical Vapor Deposition.

CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD)

The catalytic vapor phase deposition of carbon was first reported in 1959, but it was not until 1993 that carbon nanotubes were formed by this process. In 2007, researchers at the University of Cincinnati developed a process to grow aligned carbon nanotube arrays of 18 mm length on a First Nano ET3000 carbon nanotube growth system. During CVD, a substrate is prepared with a layer of metal catalyst particles, most commonly nickel, cobalt, iron, or a combination. The diameters of the nanotubes that are to be grown are related to the size of the metal particles. The substrate is heated to approximately 700C. To initiate the growth of nanotubes, two gases are bled into the reactor: a process gas (such as ammonia, nitrogen or hydrogen) and a carbon-containing gas (such as acetylene, ethylene, ethanol or methane). Nanotubes grow at the sites of the metal catalyst the carbon-containing gas is broken apart at the surface of the catalyst particle, and the carbon is transported to the edges of the particle, where it forms the nanotubes.

Natural, incidental, and controlled flame environments

Fullerenes and carbon nanotubes are not necessarily products of high-tech

laboratories; they are commonly formed in such mundane places as ordinary flames, produced by burning methane, ethylene, and benzene and they have been found in soot from both indoor and outdoor air. These naturally occurring varieties can be highly irregular in size and quality because the environment in which they are produced is often highly uncontrolled. Although they can be used in some applications, they can lack in the high degree of uniformity necessary to satisfy the needs of both research and industry. Recent efforts have focused on producing more uniform carbon nanotubes in controlled flame environments. Such methods have promise for large-scale, low-cost nanotube synthesis, though they must compete with rapidly developing large scale CVD production.

PROPERTIES
Properties of Carbon nanotubes can be visualized in the following points-

High Mechanical Strength (Youngs modulus ~1 TPa) High Electrical Conductivity Chemically Inert Can be metallic or semiconducting depending upon their

geometry

Types of carbon nanotubes

There are five types of CNTs as follows Single-Walled CNT: It can be formed by rolling Graphene sheet. Graphene is a
single planar sheet of sp-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. Types of Single-walled CNT's: Zig-zag(n,0) Armchair(n,n) Chiral(2n,n)
Multi-Walled: Multi-walled nanotubes (MWNT) consist of multiple rolled layers (concentric tubes) of graphite. In the Russian Doll model, sheets of graphite are arranged in concentric cylinders, e.g. a (0,8) single-walled nanotube (SWNT) within a larger (0,17) single-walled nanotube. In the Parchment model, a single sheet of graphite is rolled in around itself, resembling a scroll of parchment or a rolled newspaper. The interlayer distance in multi-walled nanotubes is close to the distance between graphene layers in graphite, approximately 3.4 . The special place of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNT) must be emphasized here because their morphology and properties are similar to SWNT but their resistance to chemicals is significantly improved. This is especially important when functionalization is required (this means grafting of chemical functions at the surface of the nanotubes) to

add new properties to the CNT.

Single-walled CNT's

Multi-walled nanotubes(MWNT)

Uses of CARBON NANOTUBES:

As Paper Batteries Solar Cells

Ultra-Capacitors
Lithium Ion Battery Fuel Cells

Flywheel
As a Drug Delivery Vessel

As Paper Batteries
Battery engineered to use a paper-thin sheet of Cellulose Infused with aligned carbon nanotubes Nanotubes act as electrodes allowing storage devices to conduct electricity Battery functions as both a lithium-ion battery and a super-capacitor, provides long, steady power output comparable to a conventional battery

Solar cells
Solar cells use a carbon nanotube complex It is formed by a mixture of carbon nanotubes and carbon buckyballs to

form snake-like structures Buckyballs trap electrons, although they can't make electrons flow Nanotubes behave like copper wires is able to make the electrons or current flow

Ultra-capacitors
Electromagnetic and Electronic System uses nanotubes to improve ultra-

capacitors Activated charcoal used in conventional ultra-capacitors has many small hollow spaces of various size Creates together a large surface to store electric charge Charge is quantized into elementary charges, i.e. electrons, and such elementary charge needs a minimum space

Lithium Ion Battery

High surface-to-volume ratio make carbon nanotubes useful as anode

materials. Efficiency of synthetic graphite battery anode increases with increasing weight percentage of carbon nanotubes Efficiency is maintained at almost 100% up to 50 cycles.

Flywheel
Way of storing energy in the rotational momentum (kinetic energy) of large

wheels sealed in a vacuum. Method of storage: Mechanical rather than chemical Amount of energy stored is limited to size of flywheel Flywheels made out of steel, iron, or various composites. Experiments have used carbon fibre-based flywheels for superior performance. Best material for flywheels is carbon nanotubes

As a Drug Delivery Vessel

Carbon nanotubes used as vessel for transporting drugs in to body Drug can be actually placed inside carbon nanotubes Carbon nanotubes in combination with radio frequency are used to destroy

cancer cells

Carbon Nanotubes:
Pose serious toxicities to human life
Cross membrane barriers and reach the organs where they

induce harmful effects

Enter the cell and get accumulated into the cytoplasm causing

death of cell
Widespread use of nanotubes can lead to cancer of lungs Can lead to serious unknown health hazards