Trends in Nanotubes Research

A novel way of arranging the atomic structure of a substance so that it can be made thousands of times stronger than in its native state. Often used to make duranium a further ten thousand times stronger. Thus, a lump of duranium can be made over ten million times stronger than the equivalent block of titanium. A one dimensional fullerene (a convex cage of atoms with only hexagonal and/ or pentagonal faces) with a cylindrical shape. Carbon nanotubes discovered in 1991 by Sumio Iijima resemble rolled up graphite, although they can not really be made that way. Depending on the direction that the tubes appear to have been rolled (quantified by the 'chiral vector'), they are known to act as conductors or semiconductors. Nanotubes are a proving to be useful as molecular components for nanotechnology. This book assembles and presents new and important research in the field.