A Brief Introduction of Carbon Nanotubes: History, Synthesis, and Properties

Carbon nanotube (CNT) is one of the most widely used nanomaterials recently. Since it was discovered by Iijima in 1991, its various synthesis methods were being mature in the past 30 years. The research of carbon nanotube applications in different fields has never stopped. Since a number of researchers have tested the excellent properties of CNTs, it provides an optimistic expectation about CNT applications in the future. This review summarizes the historical development of CNTs, and briefly introduces three main CNT synthesis methods and their properties. (paper)