Nanotubes

Nanotubes are extremely small cylinders made from sheets of carbon that are only a single molecule in thickness. When rolled into seamless cylinders, the carbon forms a microscopic but very strong fiber that can be manipulated to exhibit many different physical properties.

Fast Facts

1. Discovered in 1991 by Sumio Iijima¹
2. Made molecule-thick sheets of interlocked carbon atoms
3. Sheets typically made out of graphite or graphene
4. Diameters are measured in nanometers (one billionth of a meter)
5. About 50,000 to 100,000 times thinner than a human hair²
6. As fibers, exhibit high stiffness and tensile strength¹
7. Exhibit different physical properties when arranged in different shapes
8. Can be made out of a single tube (single-walled) or many coaxial tubes inserted into one another (multi-walled)¹

Nanotube Properties

Depending on their shape, nanotubes can exhibit a variety of properties, including:

1. High tensile strength
2. Heat conductivity
3. Head insulation
4. Electrical conductivity
5. Electrical insulation
6. Semiconductivity¹

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