Question

please explain why carbon nanotubes conduct electricity?

Answer 1

@zaynab123

Answer 2

Well, here's an attempt:

Probably as to do with exciting electrons from one energy level to another. whether, there's a small enough distance between the valence band and conduction band, it will be metallic. if the distance between these two bands is small. electrons can be easily excited from the valence band to the conduction band.

see below:

"Electrons in carbon nanotubes can only be at certain energy levels, just like electrons in atoms. A nanotube is metallic if the energy level that allows delocalized electrons to flow between atoms throughout the nanotube (referred to as the conduction band) is right above the energy level used by electrons attached to atoms (the valance band). In a metallic nanotube, electrons can easily move to the conduction band. A nanotube is semiconducting if the energy level of the conduction band is high enough so that there is an energy gap between it and the valance band. In this case, additional energy, such as light, is needed for an electron to jump that gap to move to the conduction band. While there is no gap between the valance and conduction bands for armchair nanotubes (which makes them metallic), an energy gap does exist between the valance and conduction bands in about two thirds of zigzag and chiral nanotubes — which makes them semiconducting."

Answer 3

carbon nanotubes are graphene sheets rolled up into a hollow cylinder..It has to do with what photon mentioned, small energy gap between the valence and conduction bands and overlap of the \(\pi\) orbitals between adjacent atoms (they're all in an \(sp^2\) configuration).



graphene is essentially a sheet of benzene molecules but it has some awesome properties, like it's electrical resistance is zero, so electrons can travel at the speed of light and are described, not by the schrodinger equation but, by the Dirac equation. It's also the strongest material known. There is much more detail to this, just google it.

Answer 4

i just noticed i screwed my "benzene sheet".. haha you get the point.

Answer 5

thanks