Carbon nanotubes (
CNTs) are
allotropes of carbon with a
cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material. These cylindrical
carbon molecules have unusual properties, which are valuable for
nanotechnology,
electronics,
optics and other fields of
materials science and technology. In particular, owing to their extraordinary
thermal conductivity and mechanical and
electrical properties, carbon nanotubes find applications as additives to various structural materials. For instance, nanotubes form a tiny portion of the material(s) in some (primarily
carbon fiber) baseball bats, golf clubs, car parts or
damascus steel.