Sumio Iijima discovered carbon nanotubes while working at NEC in 1991. Simply stated, CNTs are sheets of graphene (individual graphite layers) that are rolled up into tube like structures. These structures can be formed using a variety of methods and come in a wide range of types. Each variety of CNT has unique benefits. One of the most significant characteristics of CNTs are their size. These structures can have diameters smaller than one nanometer and lengths of several microns. The arrangement of the carbon atoms, size of the tubes, defects, and many other factors are keeping researchers busy trying to determine the benefits and uses of CNTs.

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