Carbon nanotubes continue to be one of the most versatile materials for molecular nanotechnology components. As a structural material, they have a stiffness more than 5 times that of the strongest steels, and a tensile strength level 50 times as great. As a thermal conductor, they have three times that of the former champ, diamond, in their axial direction. They have the electrical conductivity of copper with ten thousand times greater current density carrying ability--making them ideal for molecular electronic devices from computer circuits to field emitters for displays. They can be grown with single walls or nested multi-walls, filled with metal atoms, grown straight or branched (figure 1), The race for tonnage production of carbon nanotubes is heating up. Materials and Electrochemical Research Corporation, Tucson, AZ, the largest producer of fullerenes of all varieties, is being challenged by Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc., Houston, TX, which just opened a pilot plant in May that will be able to produce kilogram quantities of single wall carbon nanotubes daily. Both companies are gambling that many new applications will become practical once the cost (currently about $30/gram) drops dramatically with high volume production.
Advanced Materials Research Institute