Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene - Research and Applications

Nanomaterials confined within the inner space of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit unusual behavior that differs from that of bulk materials; extensive research has been thus carried out on the encapsulation of various molecules in the inner space of CNTs in order to discover new properties of the nanomaterials. The chemically and mechanically stable pseudo-1D confined nanospace of CNTs can serve as an ideal environment for the template assembly of various nanomaterials. Since the confined nanospace of a CNT prevents molecules from reacting, as it impedes their movement, it can potentially be utilized for stable storage of various reactive materials. More

Flame retardant materials have become a major business for the chemical industry and can be found practically everywhere in modern society. Unfortunately, conventional methods for making plastic flame retardant involve a range of often very toxic chemicals. It has already been demonstrated that the flame retardancy of polymeric materials without the use of toxic chemicals could become possible thanks to the synergistic effect of nanoclay and carbon nanotubes. In a step further, researchers have now shown that the use of buckypaper is more efficient as a fire retardant in polymer composites in comparison to directly mixing carbon nanotubes into the composite matrix. More

Batteries might gain a boost in power capacity as a result of a new finding from researchers at MIT. They found that using carbon nanotubes for one of the battery's electrodes produced a significant increase - up to tenfold - in the amount of power it could deliver from a given weight of material, compared to a conventional lithium-ion battery. More