Carbon Nano Tubes

Carbon Nanotubes (CNT)   A Carbon Nanotube (CNT) is a rolled up sheet of Graphene or Nano Graphene Platelets (NGP). A CNT can be conceptualized as a one atom thick layer of graphene rolled into a seamless cylinder.

CNT are allotropes of carbon with a length to diameter ratio as large as 28,000,000 to 1. They are members of the fullerene structural family. Their length can be several millimeters with a diameter on the order of only a few nanometers (approximately 1/50,000 of the with of a human hair).

CNT come in 2 categories one is single walled nano tubes (SWNT) the other is multi-walled nano tubes (MWNT). There are several other variations of Carbon Nanotubes, the Fullerite (P-SWNT) that is a solid SWNT; the Torus is a Carbon Nanotube that is shaped as a doughnut. There is one more special case and it is called a Nanobud. It is the combination of a Fullerenes and a Carbon Nanotubes, where fullerene-like “buds” are bonded to Carbon Nanotubes.
Carbon Nanotubes have many special characteristics one of them is their bonding. The bonding of a CNT can be described by applied quantum chemistry. Their bonds are sp² bonds; these bonds are similar to graphite. Sp² bonds are stronger than sp³ bonds found in diamonds. The sp² bond is what gives the CNT their unique strength. The CNT will align themselves naturally into “ropes “ the Nano ropes are held together by Van der Waals forces.