Carbon nanotube responsive materials and applications

Article By:

Schulz, Mark Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Li, Weifeng Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Song, Yi Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ruff, Brad Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Kluener, Joe Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Guo, Xuefei Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Kuhlmann, Julia Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Doepke, Amos Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ramanathan, Madhumati Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Kumta, Prashant Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Conroy, Gary Atkins and Pearce, Covington, Kentucky.

Simmons, Kristin Atkins and Pearce, Covington, Kentucky.

Jones, J. T. Atkins and Pearce, Covington, Kentucky.

Koenig, Robert Atkins and Pearce, Covington, Kentucky.

Jayasinghe, Chaminda Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dandino, Charles Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mast, David Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Shereen, Duke Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Shanov, Vesselin Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Pixley, Sarah Biology Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Vennemeyer, John Biomedical Engineering Program, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hopkins, Tracy Biology Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Venkatasubramanian, Rajiv Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sowani, Anshuman Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Last reviewed:2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB120328

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted a lot of interest in the past 20 years. Superior mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties have made CNTs the desired building blocks for hybrid materials and devices at the micro- and nanoscale. Another advantage is that different forms of CNT materials have been developed for different applications. The powder form of CNTs is low-cost and useful as filler for polymers. Substrate grown CNT forests or arrays (Fig. 1a) can be micrometers to centimeters in height and can be processed into various material forms. Arrays that are spinable can be pulled into a translucent belt-like CNT ribbon (Fig. 1b). When the tension on the ribbon is released, the CNTs tend to stick together to form a strand. Ribbon or strands also can be twisted using a bench-top machine into a CNT thread with a diameter of 4–10 μm or larger. Recently, the smallest synthetic threads with a diameter of 350 nm were manufactured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). These are called nanothreads (Fig. 1c). Two or more threads can be twisted together to form a CNT yarn (Fig. 1d). Threads can also be braided to form microbraid (Fig. 1e). CNT sheet drawn from the forest is a newly developed CNT material (Fig. 1f). The various forms of CNT materials each have different properties and are useful for specific applications.

The content above is only an excerpt.