Premium
Carbon Nanotubes as Liquid Crystals
Author(s) -
Zhang Shanju,
Kumar Satish
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.200700082
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , materials science , nanotechnology , liquid crystal , nanotube , liquid crystalline , thermal , optoelectronics , meteorology , physics
Carbon nanotubes are the best of known materials with a combination of excellent mechanical, electronic, and thermal properties. To fully exploit individual nanotube properties for various applications, the grand challenge is to fabricate macroscopic ordered nanotube assemblies. Liquid‐crystalline behavior of the nanotubes provides a unique opportunity toward reaching this challenge. In this Review, the recent developments in this area are critically reviewed by discussing the strategies for fabricating liquid‐crystalline phases, addressing the solution properties of liquid‐crystalline suspensions, and exploiting the practical techniques of liquid‐crystal routes to prepare macroscopic nanotube fibers and films.