CARBON NANOTUBES IN DETAIL



Carbon nanotubes are large molecules of pure carbon resembling rolled sheets of graphene. The tubes are approximately one nanometer in diameter - about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. They display a remarkable range of physical and chemical properties:

  • 25 times stronger than steel by weight
  • Potentially the best conductors of electricity & heat ever produced
  • High electron density & current carrying capacity
  • Excellent chemical, thermal and mechanical resilience
  • Variable bandgap semiconductance
  • Excellent electron field emission
Nanotubes exist in many crystal orientations, diameters, lengths and combinations of layers. The characteristics and properties of each kind of Nanotube are different. For instance, they can vary from tunable band gap semiconductors to metallic conductors.



Nanotubes have many applications and enable a variety of new nano-components to be developed. Compared to Nanotubes currently on the market, Canatu's Nanotubes are
  • Of controlled diameter, length & funtionalization
  • Single-Walled
  • Minimally bundled
  • Of high purity
  • Highly crystalline and largely defect free
Nanotube's properties (e.g. electric conductivity) depend heavily on the crystal orientation of the tubes. So far, the biggest challenge in the production of Nanotube-based components has been the fact that no one has been able to control the crystal orientation in individual Nanotubes. Nanotubes with many different crystallinities - and thus properties - are produced simultaneously. Canatu's production method is able to tailor the range of crystal orientation of the Nanotubes being produced and thus vary the properties, particularly the electrical properties, of the material.

Traditionally Single-Walled Nanotubes have been produced at high or low pressure (e.g. 10-30 times higher than or below 1% of atmospheric pressure) and in complicated batch processes. These production methods require expensive equipment and the characteristics (crystal orientation, length and diameter) of the resulting Nanotubes cannot be controlled. Moreover, Nanotubes produced by these methods must be separated, purified and dispersed using expensive and time consuming methods, which can further degrade the product.

Since Canatu's synthesis method directly produces high purity product with little bundling, our process is actually an integrated nanotube manufacturing & substrate deposition method. Canatu has developed and is patenting a low temperature deposition technique, Direct Dry Printing (DDP), which allows the produced Nanotubes to be directly deposited onto any surface as an integral part of the manufacturing process.