Science · 2003 · 337 citations · 6 references
Natural SciencesMaterials EngineeringMaterials ScienceCrystal StructureNanomaterialsNanotechnologyCarbon NanomaterialsCarbon NanotubesCrystal ChemistryLiquid Crystal MaterialsNanomaterial CharacterizationNanotubesCarbon Nanotube Mechanical PropertiesCrystallinity EffectsElectronic Properties Of Carbon NanomaterialsMechanical Properties Of Carbon NanotubesMechanical Properties Of NanotubesMulti-walled Carbon NanotubesNanotube ChiralityNematic Liquid Crystals
Carbon nanotubes show promise for a wide range of applications due to a combination of their unusual structural, mechanical, and electronic properties. However, the limited ability to process nanotubes hinders the realization of their full potential. To remove this obstacle, research has been focused on the dispersion of nanotubes in solvents through oxidation, grafting, wrapping, and surfactant addition (1). Nevertheless, their production as uniform and ordered assemblies remains a challenge. It has already been proposed that carbon nanotubes should form a lyotropic liquid crystalline phase (2), whereas lyotropic phases have been reported in other nanoscale rigid rod systems, such as the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) (3). The formation of such a phase in carbon nanotubes should facilitate large-scale alignment during processing, as well as provide opportunities to understand further details of liquid crystalline behavior.
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