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Carbon Nanotube
The future of carbon nanotubes
Currently, we are gaining a greater understanding of the electrical characteristics of carbon nanotubes through both theoretical and experimental means.
Research is moving forward in the field of fabrication methods, but many have said that it is difficult to produce long carbon nanotubes formed basically from hexagonal graphenes, because in the process of generating these nanotubes, pentagonal and heptagonal graphenes are also created, resulting in tubes with closed ends or with ends that spread out. Progress has been made in technologies for creating long tubes, however; for example, in April 2003, American researchers announced that they had created a carbon nanotube with a length of six millimeters. Our group has set a target for the large-scale production of carbon nanohorns, and has already entered the implementation phase.
However, there are still several remaining issues as regards CNT synthesis. For example, we still cannot control the chirality of the tube, which determines the electrical property of CNT. Also, some have asked whether it will be possible to use carbon nanotubes in hydrogen storage materials; although methane is absorbed effectively, we have recently found that hydrogen storage is problematic.
In addition to applications in carbon nanotube transistors and fuel cells for mobile devices discussed earlier, we are conducting research to determine whether carbon nanotubes can be used in the field of nano-biotechnology. Carbon itself has a high affinity with the human body, so we believe that carbon nanotubes are ideally suited to applications related to DNA and other molecular identification materials.
In the future, we will see the establishment of large-scale synthesis of carbon nanotubes as well as an acceleration in research targeting their applications. Without doubt, carbon nanotubes represent a material that offers great potential, bringing with it the possibility of breakthroughs in a new generation of devices, electric equipment and bio fields.
