Can Carbon Nanotubes Play A Role In The Field Of Nuclear Waste Management?

摘要

Carbon nanotubes possess physicochemical properties that make them an attractive possibility for nuclear waste management, though much investigation needs to be done.rnCarbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a novel and interesting graphitic carbon material which, since its discovery (1, 2), has attracted considerable attention due to its unique structural and physicochemical properties. CNTs are basically carbon macromolecules in the shape of a hollow cylinder, usually capped at least at one end, and characterized by a length-to-diameter ratio <106 (Figure 1); the diameter of a nanotube ranges from a few to tens of nanometers, while its length can reach up to several millimeters. According to their structure, CNTs are categorized as single-walled (SW) or multiwalled (MW), see Figure la and c, respectively. Each wall consists of a flat molecular network of C atoms known as graphene (graphite is the material composed of overlaying graphene sheets), while CNT end caps include pentagonal rings to fit the geodesic curvature. The interwall distance in MWNTs is on the order of a few angstroms.