Alex Antia, Ingra De Queiroz Flecha, Bethany Jim, Holly Pearce, Dominic Mahoney and Jinyu Yang

Applications of Carbon Nanotubes

Applications & Discussion
Electronics Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) and their compounds exhibit extraordinary electrical properties for organic materials, and have a huge potential in electrical and electronic applications such as photovoltaics, sensors, semiconductor devices, displays, conductors, smart textiles and energy conversion devices (e.g., fuel cells, harvesters and batteries). Carbon nanotubes for electronics applications are still a strong focus for research and printable carbon nanotube inks are beginning to hit the market. CNTs are used for making transistors and are applied as conductive layers for the rapidly growing touch screen market. CNTs are considered a viable replacement for ITO transparent conductors in some applications. Fabricated as transparent conductive films (TCF), carbon nanotubes can potentially be used as a highly conductive, transparent and cost efficient alternative in flexible displays and touch screens, for instance. Composites One of the major commercial applications of nanotubes is in the development of nanotube-based polymer composites, which have improved physical and mechanical properties. The nanotube composites present a wide range of possible applications, such as electrostatic-discharge components, sporting good (e.g. tennis rackets), electrically conductive paints, optical devices and aerospace composites. Incorporation of nanotubes into plastics results in increased stiffness, strength and toughness and allows electrical and thermal conductivity. Comparing to traditional reinforcing fibres, the nanotubes are more flexible and have molecular dimensions that are more similar to the polymer chains dimensions. Their small size improves the reinforcement effect because there is a high surface area available for contact with the polymeric matrix. The performance of carbon-nanotube composites is about 10 times better than that observed for composites with conventional carbon fibers, for the same load. Although nanotube composites have shown a great potential, some problems must be overcome. The main challenge lies in obtaining a uniform dispersion of the nanotubes within the matrix and a strong adhesion between the two components. The nanotubes tend to form aggregates, specially bundles, which may weak the composite and cause cracks in it. Moreover, the huge interfacial area and the smoothness of the particles lead to a poor nanotube/matrix adhesion. Finally, cost is also an important issue, since a large quantity of good quality nanotubes is required for application in composites. Regarding to cost, MWNTs are preferred than SWNTs. Therefore, there is still a need for further research and development of techniques to produce cost-effective nanocomposites. Energy Storage Lithium ion battery Lithium-ion batteries consist of 2 electrodes and an electrolyte. The electrodes are oppositely charged and the electrolyte allows the ions to travel between each electrode for charging and discharging. Carbon nanotubes are able to replace the traditional material used for the cathode in these batteries, as they contain many functional groups on their surface, which lets them store a large amount of lithium ions. Using carbon materials for the cathode speeds up the lithium storage reaction considerably, therefore they can deliver much more power. Electrostatic interactions in the battery causes the nanotubes to take a porous structure, leaving many exposed surfaces for reactions to take place; nanotubes usually clump together without electrostatic forces, which doesnt leave a lot of surface area. Nanotube batteries are able to output 10 times the power of a standard lithium-ion battery and keep a much better stability over time; after 1000 charging and discharging cycles there has been no change detected in tested batteries. Hydrogen Researchers have come up with a structure using carbon nanotubes that can store vast amounts of hydrogen. The nanotubes are arranged in a sponge like structure, where they are crossed over each other in a 3D grid structure. A common method of packing nanotubes is by keeping them parallel to each other, where the entire edges of the tubes touch each other; in the grid structure, there are only specific points of contact and this was found to absorb a substantial amount more hydrogen than the parallel structure. Only a model of the sponge structure has been made, because it is very difficult to make an ordered 3D network using single wall carbon nanotubes.

Introduction
Nanostructured carbon has been at the foreground of nanotechnology developments and applications, with a main focus being made on the potential science of carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are exciting new structures which have shown an impressive scale of properties including great thermal and electrical conductivity as well as elasticity, chemical resistance and strength. The carbon atoms making up the carbon nanotubes are arranging in layers of connected benzene rings making the structure very strong. This is because the bonds present between the six atoms in a benzene ring are highly stable as theyre fairly unreactive against most chemicals. Essentially, the structure of a carbon nanotube is, quite simply, just a graphite sheet rolled into a tube form, but its the recent development of the tubes single walls that allows the nanostructure to exhibit such a wide range of useful properties. Demonstrations have proved that single carbon nanotubes can even act as transistors, transparent electrodes in solar cells and artificial muscles. The potential to insert other complex nanostructures inside the tubes has further increased the variety applications possible.

Other types of nanostructured carbon

Conclusion