Who invented the carbon nanotube?
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Invention of the carbon nanotube is credited to Sumio Iijima in 1991, but Figure 8 in Bacon’s paper shows a carbon nanotube derived from a whisker subjected to heavy current that caused the outer layers to explode. Iijima's invention is a seamless tube of diameter <30 nm, as opposed to Bacon's scrolled sheet.
Roger Bacon (physicist)
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Sumio Iijima (飯島 澄男 "Iijima Sumio", born May 2, 1939) is a Japanese physicist, often cited as the inventor of carbon nanotubes. Although carbon nanotubes had been observed prior to his "invention", Iijima's 1991 paper generated unprecedented interest in the carbon nanostructures and has since fueled intense research in the area of nanotechnology.
Sumio Iijima
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The discovery of carbon nanotubes is largely attributed to Sumio Iijima of NEC in 1991, although carbon nanotubes have been produced and observed under a variety of conditions prior to 1991. Iijima's discovery of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the insoluble material of arc-burned graphite rods in 1991 and Mintmire, Dunlap, and White's independent prediction that if single-walled carbon nanotubes could be made, then they would exhibit remarkable conducting properties helped create the initial buzz that is now associated with carbon nanotubes. Nanotube research accelerated greatly following the independent discoveries by Bethune at IBM and Iijima at NEC of "single-walled" carbon nanotubes and methods to specifically produce them by adding transition-metal catalysts to the carbon in an arc discharge.
History of nanotechnology
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The true identity of the discoverers of carbon nanotubes is a subject of some controversy. A 2006 editorial written by Marc Monthioux and Vladimir Kuznetsov in the journal "Carbon" described the interesting and often-misstated origin of the carbon nanotube. A large percentage of academic and popular literature attributes the discovery of hollow, nanometer-size tubes composed of graphitic carbon to Sumio Iijima of NEC in 1991. He published a paper describing his discovery which initiated a flurry of excitement and could be credited by inspiring the many scientists now studying applications of carbon nanotubes. Though Iijima has been given much of the credit for discovering carbon nanotubes, it turns out that the timeline of carbon nanotubes goes back much further than 1991.
Carbon nanotube
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This process was developed by Dr. Richard Smalley and co-workers at Rice University, who at the time of the discovery of carbon nanotubes, were blasting metals with a laser to produce various metal molecules. When they heard of the existence of nanotubes they replaced the metals with graphite to create multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Later that year the team used a composite of graphite and metal catalyst particles (the best yield was from a cobalt and nickel mixture) to synthesize single-walled carbon nanotubes.
Synthesis of carbon nanotubes
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Single-walled carbon nanotubes can also be synthesized by a thermal plasma method, first invented in 2000 at INRS (Institut national de la recherche scientifique) in Varennes, Canada, by Olivier Smiljanic. In this method, the aim is to reproduce the conditions prevailing in the arc discharge and laser ablation approaches, but a carbon-containing gas is used instead of graphite vapors to supply the necessary carbon. Doing so, the growth of SWNT is more efficient (decomposing the gas can be 10 times less energy-consuming than graphite vaporization). The process is also continuous and low cost. A gaseous mixture of argon, ethylene and ferrocene is introduced into a microwave plasma torch, where it is atomized by the atmospheric pressure plasma, which has the form of an intense 'flame'. The fumes created by the flame contain SWNT, metallic and carbon nanoparticles and amorphous carbon.
Synthesis of carbon nanotubes
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Junctions between two or more nanotubes have been widely discussed theoretically. Such junctions are quite frequently observed in samples prepared by arc discharge as well as by chemical vapor deposition. The electronic properties of such junctions were first considered theoretically by Lambin et al., who pointed out that a connection between a metallic tube and a semiconducting one would represent a nanoscale heterojunction. Such a junction could therefore form a component of a nanotube-based electronic circuit. The adjacent image shows a junction between two multiwalled nanotubes.
Junctions between nanotubes and graphene have been considered theoretically but not widely studied experimentally. Such junctions form the basis of pillared graphene, in which parallel graphene sheets are separated by short nanotubes. Pillared graphene represents a class of three-dimensional carbon nanotube architectures.
Recently, several studies have highlighted the prospect of using carbon nanotubes as building blocks to fabricate three-dimensional macroscopic (>100 nm in all three dimensions) all-carbon devices. Lalwani et al. have reported a novel radical-initiated thermal crosslinking method to fabricate macroscopic, free-standing, porous, all-carbon scaffolds using single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes as building blocks. These scaffolds possess macro-, micro-, and nano-structured pores, and the porosity can be tailored for specific applications. These 3D all-carbon scaffolds/architectures may be used for the fabrication of the next generation of energy storage, supercapacitors, field emission transistors, high-performance catalysis, photovoltaics, and biomedical devices and implants.
Carbon nanotube
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First studies on oxidation of carbon nanotubes involved a gas-phase reactions with nitric acid vapor in air, which indiscriminately functionalized the carbon nanotubes with carboxylic, carbonyl or hydroxyl groups. In liquid-phase reactions, carbon nanotubes were treated with oxidizing solutions of nitric acid or a combination of nitric and sulfuric acid to the same effect. However, overoxidation may occur causing the carbon nanotube to break up into fragments, which are known as carbonaceous fragments. Xing et al. revealed sonication assisted oxidation, with sulfuric and nitric acid, of carbon nanotubes and produced carbonyl and carboxyl groups. After the oxidation reaction in acidic solution, treatment with hydrogen peroxide limited the damage on the carbon nanotube network. Single-walled carbon nanotubes can be shortened in a scalable manner using oleum (100% HSO with 3% SO) and nitric acid. The nitric acid cuts carbon nanotubes while the oleum creates a channel.
Carbon nanotube chemistry
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The interaction between carbon nanotubes and biomolecules has been widely studied because of their potential to be used in
biological applications. The modification of the carbon nanotubes with proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids are built with the bottom-up technique. Proteins have high affinity to carbon nanotubes due to their diversity of amino acids being hydrophobic or hydrophilic. Polysaccharides have been successfully been used to modify carbon nanotubes forming stable hybrids. To make carbon nanotubes soluble in water, phospholipids such as lysoglycerophospholipids have been used. The single phospholipid tail wraps around the carbon nanotube, but the double tailed phospholipids did not have the same ability.
Carbon nanotube chemistry
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Iijima's discovery of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the insoluble material of arc-burned graphite rods in 1991 and Mintmire, Dunlap, and White's independent prediction that if single-walled carbon nanotubes could be made, then they would exhibit remarkable conducting properties helped create the initial buzz that is now associated with carbon nanotubes. Nanotube research accelerated greatly following the independent discoveries by Bethune at IBM and Iijima at NEC of "single-walled" carbon nanotubes and methods to specifically produce them by adding transition-metal catalysts to the carbon in an arc discharge. The arc discharge technique was well-known to produce the famed Buckminster fullerene on a preparative scale, and these results appeared to extend the run of accidental discoveries relating to fullerenes. The discovery of nanotubes remains a contentious issue. Many believe that Iijima's report in 1991 is of particular importance because it brought carbon nanotubes into the awareness of the scientific community as a whole.
Carbon nanotube