Subject carbon nanotubes

The yield strengths of defect-free SWNTs may be higher than that measured for Bacon s scroll structures, and measurements on defect-free carbon nanotubes may allow the prediction of the yield strength of a single, defect-free graphene sheet. Also, the yield strengths of MWNTs are subject to the same limitations discussed above with respect to tube slippage. All the discussion here relates to ideal nanotubes real carbon nanotubes may contain faults of various types that will influence their properties and require experimental measurements of their mechanical constants. 

Many chromatographic methods such as permeation chromatography, column chromatography, and size exclusion chromatography have been used to purify CNTs. The size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is the only carbon nanotube purification method in the literature that is not subjected to the acid treatments which tend to create the carboxylic functionality on CNTs. 

The first edition of this book published in 1986 was well received by the chemistry and materials science communities and this resulted in the paperback edition published in 1989. We are most gratified by this warm reception to the book which has been found useful by students and teachers as well as practising solid state chemists and materials scientists. Since we first wrote the book, there have been many new developments in the various aspects of solid state chemistry covering synthesis, structure elucidation, properties, phenomena and reactivity. The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates created a great sensation and gave a boost to the study of solid state chemistry. Many new types of materials such as the fullerenes and carbon nanotubes have been discovered. We have now revised the book taking into account the new developments so that it reflects the present status of the subject adequately and points to new directions. 

The physical-chemical properties of a synthetic gallophosphate molecular sieve, the 30-A supercage cloverite , have been assessed [18]. Instead of attempting to list the burgeoning number of fullerene publications, attention is drawn to the formation and characterization of fullerene-like nanocrystals of tungsten disulfide [19,20]. Preparation, characterization and utilization of carbon nanotubes have been the subject of a number of reports from several laboratories [21-27]. 

Fullerene, black and shiny like graphite, is the subject of active current research because of its interesting electronic properties. When allowed to react with rubidium metal, a superconducting material called rubidium fulleride, Rb3C6o, is formed. (We ll discuss superconductors in more detail in Section 21.6.) Carbon nanotubes are being studied for use as fibers in the structural composites used to make golf clubs, bicycle frames, boats, and airplanes. On a mass basis, nanotubes are up to ten times as strong as steel. 

Figure 15.33 A subjective timeline showing some of the key developments in carbon nanotube research.

The DNA-carbon nanotube interaction is a complicated and dynamic process. Many studies on this subject have been pursued through a series of techniques, including molecular dynamic simulation, microscopy, circular dichroism, and optical spectroscopy.57,58 Although the detailed mechanism is not fully understood at present, several physical factors have been proposed to be driving DNA-carbon nanotube interactions,46,59-61 such as entropy loss due to confinement of the DNA backbone, van der Waals and hydrophobic (rr-stacking) interactions, electronic interactions between DNA and carbon nanotubes, and nanotube deformation. A recent UV optical spectroscopy study of the ssDNA-SWNT system demonstrated experimentally that... 

Since their discovery by Iijima in 1991 [23], carbon nanotubes have become the subject of intense research activities [2, 3], Today they are widely recognized as the essential contributors to nanotechnology. However, their lack of solubility and their multidisperse dimensions present a considerable barrier towards processing and usage of their promising property profile for technological applications. 

Novel means of storing hydrogen are the subject of intensive research because of the problems with the methods described earlier. In particular, there has been considerable experimentation with hydrogen storage in fullerenes ( buckyballs or carbon nanotubes ), which are microscopic structures fashioned out of carbon. Recent research indicates that there is potential for buckyball storage through a combination of chemical and physical containment but at very high temperature and pressure.20 These novel... 

Carbon-based adsorbents such as activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, and carbon nanofibres have been the subject of intensive research over the past 15 years. The research on hydrogen storage in carbon materials was dominated by announcements of extraordinary high storage capacities in carbon nanostructures. 

Workplace exposure to chemical substances and the potential for pulmonary toxicity are subject to regulation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), including the requirement that potential hazards be disclosed on material safety data sheets (MSDS). (An interesting question arises as to whether carbon nanotubes, chemically carbon but with different properties because of their small size and structure, are indeed to be considered the same as or different from carbon black for MSDS pur-oses.) Both government and private agencies can be expected to evelop the requisite threshold limit values (TLVs) for workplace exposure. Also, EPA may once again utilize TSCA to assert its own jurisdiction, appropriate or not, to minimize exposure in the workplace. 

Actuators based on the swelling and shrinking of gels are the subject of much research. They can be regarded as modeling muscle systems. However, the response times of such systems are limited, because actuator motion occurs with molecular diffusion in the gel. If each molecule could expand and shrink instead, motional response times would significantly improve. Carbon nanotubes are known to expand or shrink upon injections of electrons or... 

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