Carbon nanotubes - A new material for packaging

Different techniques are used to produce carbon nanotubes. The most common ones are laser evaporation, chemical vapour deposition and an arc based process. Due to the outstanding mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes it is quite obviour to use them in a variety of applications. The farthest developed application is the use of carbon nanotubes in order to make them electrically conductive. Due to their high Young's modulus carbon nanotubes are an excellent material for the reinforcement of other materials. However, it is quite difficult to achieve a sufficiently strong bonding between the nanotubes and the host material. Carbon nanotubes als may play an important role in packaging if their superior properties can be used in a proper way. On obvious application is therir use in adhesives in order to make them electrically conductive. Another possible application is the use of carbon nanotubes as an element for mechanical reinforcement in lead free solder.