We might have come across single walled carbon nanotubes and other nanotubes that are linear in dimension. Have you ever imagined what would be the resulting property this nanotube if more than two nanotubes are aligned together? It was a hybrid of sweet and bitter. Yes, achieving this great innovative thing had many bitter experiences that made better after rigorous analysis and research.
Some applications of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes
Let us check out some of the interesting uses of VA-CNTs as follows.
Blackbody
Carbon nanotubes are highly light absorbing in nature. That is, they absorb those radiations that fall invisible ranges. Due to this highlight absorbing tendency, it is expected to act as a black body. Black body is those substances that high absorbance and an ideal blackbody are expected to have 100% absorbance. Yes, a blackbody would completely absorb the light!
Gas sensors
Gas sensors are widely used in chemical industry to identify the type of gas evolved during a reaction. These vertically aligned carbon nanotubes are coated with some chemicals/compounds that are sensitive to particular gases. They distinguish between different gases along with its composition, that can be determined by the intensity of colour resulted.
Transistors
Transistors have almost taken this world off, especially received good reputation in electronics. These transistors are used in variety of devices such as fans, telephones, mobile etc. In order to reduce the size of electronics, it is advised to use carbon nanotubes vertically aligned in nature.
Solar cells
It is used to trap light energy and convert them into chemical energy. These vertically aligned carbon nanotubes are inscribed in solar panels, solar cookers, and solar cars to trap the available light energy and convert them into chemical energy and store them in batteries. They are highly efficient than single-walled carbon nanotubes.
How are carbon nanotubes vertically aligned?
As said earlier, the main idea behind vertically aligned nanotubes is the dimensional orientation of tubes. There are many methods to achieve them. Promptly speaking, there are two major methods, in- Situ and Ex-situ.
In-Situ
This method is well suited for preparing aligned nanotubes (both vertically and horizontally). Here, the procedure is simple. The carbon nanotubes are made to align vertically in the beginning itself. So there would be less off labourings and capital investment.
Ex-Situ
In this method, the nanotubes are manufactured singly by the process that is less economical and thereafter with experts involving from various departments are involved in preparing aligned nanotubes. Here the nanotubes are both vertical and horizontal as well multidimensional in many cases. The mode of alignment is selected based on the particular use of it.
Hence to conclude the discussion, it is advised that carbon nanotubes that are aligned are always dominant in terms of its usages. But it is always recommended to have a good background of the purpose of buying aligned nanotubes. If one needs multi-dimensional aligned nanotubes then it should be kept in mind that vertically aligned nanotubes of one dimension are of no use.