Importance of the Technology
Sumio Iijima at NEC Corp. (Tsukuba, Japan) discovered carbon-nanotube technology—nanometer-diameter tubes of sheets of carbon atoms—in 1991. Carbon nanotubes are one of the most innovative material technologies of the twenty-first century because of their many desirable material properties. For example, they are ideal conductors of heat and electricity, are extremely strong, and are chemically inert and nontoxic. Because of these beneficial properties—which are extraordinary to find in one material—many materials scientists believe that they will not be able to develop better materials than carbon nanotubes.
The potential commercial applications of carbon-nanotube technology are under considerable investigation. Scientific emphasis in the technology is broad, ranging from basic research—for example, to improve means of synthesis and explore the properties of carbon nanotubes—to application-oriented research—to fabricate strong and light composite structures, light-emission devices, probes and sensors, and energy and storage devices.
Commercial interest in carbon nanotechnology will continue to increase in the coming years because opportunities exist at all levels, from commercializing these basic materials to creating new types of structures and devices. Organizations need to pay attention to this emerging technology because of its potential to disrupt well-established commercial technologies. For example, not only can carbon nanotubes improve the properties of existing electronic devices, but also they can enable the development of next-generation electronic technologies, such as molecular electronics. However, the important commercial opportunities will be a long time coming because of the technology’s numerous drawbacks, including tough competition in the materials market and today’s high production costs and low-volume production techniques. |
|
| Carbon Nanotubes Contents |
 |
|
|
| • |
Importance of the Technology |
| • |
Recent Developments |
| |
– |
Carbon Nanoscrolls |
| |
– |
Self-Repairing Carbon-Nanotube Materials |
| |
– |
Carbon-Nanotube Battery Electrodes |
| • |
The Technology in Brief |
| • |
Commercial Development Parameters |
| • |
Areas to Monitor |
| |
– |
Carbon-Nanotube Properties |
| |
– |
Mass Production |
| |
– |
Manufacturing Costs |
| |
– |
Functionality |
| |
– |
Funding |
| |
– |
Market Competition |
| |
– |
Energy and Storage |
| |
– |
Nanoelectronics |
| |
– |
High-Performance Materials |
| • |
Implications of Commercialization |
| |
– |
Delays in Mass Commercialization |
| |
– |
Prospects in the High-Performance–Composite Market |
| |
– |
Prospects in Nanoelectronics |
| |
– |
Uncertain Benefits in Energy and Storage Devices |
| • |
Applications |
| |
– |
Probing Techniques |
| |
– |
Carbon-Nanotube–Filled Composites Polymers |
| |
– |
Field-Emission Devices |
| |
– |
Sensors |
| |
– |
Hydrogen and Ion Storage |
| |
– |
Mechanical Memory Devices |
| |
– |
Nanomechanical Tools |
| |
– |
Single-Electron Transistors |
| |
– |
Superstrong Composite Structures |
| • |
Players |
| • |
Updates |
|
|
(Korean Inquiries)
(Japanese site)