Introduction to the important and exciting aspects of carbon-nanotube science and technology

Abstract

The 21 contributions of this book cover advanced topics on the application, synthesis, structure and properties of carbon nanotubes and related materials. These topics are linked to one another in this introductory contribution. By describing the book structure and highlighting advances in the field since the publication of the first volume (Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure, Properties and Applications, edited by M. S. Dresselhaus. G. Dresselhaus and P. Avouris, Vol. 80, Topics in Applied Physics Series, Springer, Berlin, 2000), it seems clear that the carbon nanotube field is on the verge of approaching a "phase-transition critical point". Carbon nanotubes have been a model system for studying physics and for developing new measurement tools. The field is now mature for making the transition from nanoscience to nanotechnology, as we show here.