Chemists Decorate Nanotubes for Usefulness

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In a step that could lead to harder materials and tinier electronic devices, researchers have found a promising new way to attach molecules to carbon nanotubes.

In its simplest form, a carbon nanotube is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon curved into a cylinder. Such tubes exhibit extraordinary strength and electrical conductivity. For many potential uses of carbon nanotubes, chemists need to attach clusters of atoms, called functional groups, to the outsides of the tubes. The new report, which will appear in an upcoming issue of the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, demonstrates a novel way to do just that.

Researchers have had some success with adding …