What are carbon nanotubes for kids?

What are carbon nanotubes for kids?

A carbon nanotube is an allotrope of carbon that is shaped like a tube of carbon atoms. Carbon nanotubes are very tough and hard to break, but still relatively light. Because of their high strength, carbon nanotubes may one day be used for bulletproof armor and other uses needing hard, lightweight materials.

What is carbon nanotubes polymer?

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) CNTs are long cylinders of covalently bonded carbon atoms which possess extraordinary electronic and mechanical properties. The field thrives after that and the first polymer composites using CNT as filler was reported by Ajayan et al (1994).

What is carbon nanotubes in simple words?

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylindrical large molecules consisting of a hexagonal arrangement of hybridized carbon atoms, which may by formed by rolling up a single sheet of graphene (single-walled carbon nanotubes, SWCNTs) or by rolling up multiple sheets of graphene (multiwalled carbon nanotubes, MWCNTs).

What are 3 properties of carbon nanotubes?

Carbon Nanotubes Properties

• CNTs have high thermal conductivity.
• CNTs have high electrical conductivity.
• CNTs aspect ratio.
• CNTs are very elastic ~18% elongation to failure.
• CNTs have very high tensile strength.
• CNTs are highly flexible — can be bent considerably without damage.
• CNTs have a low thermal expansion coefficient.

What are carbon nanotubes uses?

As of 2013, carbon nanotube production exceeded several thousand tons per year, used for applications in energy storage, device modelling, automotive parts, boat hulls, sporting goods, water filters, thin-film electronics, coatings, actuators and electromagnetic shields.

How are nanotubes made?

The fullerenes and CNTs are formed by plasma arcing of carbonaceous materials, particularly graphite. The fullerenes or carbon nanotubes appear in the soot that is formed, while the CNTs are deposited on the opposing electrode.

Are carbon nanotubes a composite?

Carbon nanotube metal matrix composites (CNT-MMC) are an emerging class of new materials that mix carbon nanotubes into metals and metal alloys to take advantage of the high tensile strength and electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube materials.

How do you make carbon nanotubes?

Techniques have been developed to produce carbon nanotubes in sizable quantities, including arc discharge, laser ablation, high-pressure carbon monoxide disproportionation, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Most of these processes take place in a vacuum or with process gases.

What are three uses for carbon?

Some of the most important uses are:

• It makes up for 18% of the human body. Sugar, glucose, proteins etc are all made of it.
• Carbon in its diamond form is used in jewellery.
• Amorphous carbon is used to make inks and paints.
• Graphite is used as the lead in your pencils.
• One of the most important uses is carbon dating.

What are carbon nanotubes types?

In addition to the two different basic structures, there are three different possible types of carbon nanotubes. These three types of CNTs are armchair carbon nanotubes, zigzag carbon nanotubes, and chiral carbon nanotubes.

What products contain carbon nanotubes?

128,129 Unlike the related fullerenes, carbon nanotubes have made more of a transition to commercial products as composite ma- terials in bikes, headphones, antifouling paint, printed transistors and the ESD Shield on the Juno space probe.