The Impact of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene on Electronics Industry

The Impact of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene on Electronics Industry

Rafael Vargas-Bernal, Gabriel Herrera-Pérez, Margarita Tecpoyotl-Torres
Copyright: © 2019 |Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7766-9.ch030
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Abstract

Since their discovery in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), by Sumio Iijima, and graphene, by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov in 2004, have been extensively studied around the world. Both materials have electronic, thermal, magnetic, optical, chemical, and mechanical extraordinary properties. International technology roadmap for semiconductors (ITRS) has predicted that these nanomaterials are potential replacements of the conventional materials used in the manufacturing of integrated circuits. Two of the technological aspects that both materials share and have reduced their extensive use are processing and dispersion required to homogenize the electrical properties of the materials based on them. Fortunately, these problems are being solved thanks to the ongoing investigation, and in a short time the materials used in today's electronics industry will be replaced by devices based on these novel materials. The impact of the applications of both materials in the electronics industry as well as future trends in the following decades are discussed in this chapter.
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Background

Carbon nanomaterials possess unique properties that can be exploited electrical, thermal, chemical and mechanically to provide applications in areas such as composite materials, energy storage and conversion, sensors, drug delivery, field emission devices, and nanoscale electronic components. Three different morphologies between carbon nanomaterials can be distinguished: carbon nanotubes, fullerenes and graphene. Carbon nanotubes and graphene have been used more extensively in the electronic industry. Next, a brief description of their properties is made with the purpose of knowing the advantages of these materials for electronic applications. The basic concepts of each type of material have been separated for a better description.

Carbon Nanotubes

A carbon nanotube can be defined as a set of cylinder-shaped graphite sheets. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be categorized by the number of graphite layers in their structure: Single-Wall Nanotubes (SWNTs) containing a single layer (see Figure 1), Double-Wall Nanotubes (DWNTs) with two layers, and Multi-Wall Nanotubes (MWNTs) that contain more of two layers (see Figure 2). Two main physical properties are associated directly with electronic applications: high thermal and electrical conductivity (Vargas-Bernal, 2012). Carbon nanotubes and their compounds exhibit extraordinary electrical properties useful for electronic organic materials, and can be used for a wide range of new and existing applications such as conductive plastics, flat-panel displays either as flexible displays or touch screens, micro-and nano-electronics (transistors), radar-absorbing coating, ultra-capacitors, solar cells, batteries with improved lifetime, hydrogen storage cells, conductors, smart textiles, electrochemical sensors, biosensors, and gas sensors. A more detailed study of their properties in found in Vargas-Bernal, 2012.

Figure 1.

Structure of the single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT)

978-1-5225-7766-9.ch030.f01
Figure 2.

Structure of the multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWNT)

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