How Were Nanotubes Discovered

These tiny things were discovered no doubt but how? It is believed in the scientific world that these were discovered in the Middle Ages and they have some confirmation about it too. as they have seen the presence of carbon nanowires and nanotubes in the making of Damascus Steel that was said to be made during this period.

Its use can be found today though in many diverse fields like architecture, optics, electronics, etc. to name only a few. In the modern world, its discovery is disputed. In 1991 a Japanese scientist named Sumio Ilima, who has also received many awards for his contribution to science and technology, is said to have discovered it and its uses. This has thus paved the way for further research work on minute things and the field of nanotechnology to develop faster.


However, there is also a theory that in 1952 soviet scientist had published papers about the research work they did on nanotubes. This was not published worldwide thus confining it to Russia which did not make it well known to others as well the scope was limited too as it being in Russian, a language not known to many. As other countries did not get free access to the research work done there it was not known to the world before.

We can see other scientists too, lending their hand in its discovery. Like a scientist form Japan being interested in cotton fibers along with a French scientist did some observations on them using electron microscopy in 1976. In the USA also an attempt to do research work in this field was done in 1979 and with great success. The scientists in Russia two years later were able to find their structure to be cylindrical or spherical. This has paved a way for further research too. Thus a lot of research work for its existence and application has been made in the last half century.

But the dispute about who had really discovered and found its application first is not yet resolved. Thus we can see a lot of research has been done and will be done to make its use and application for the benefit of mankind and the world at large.






Chris is the writer of this article , you can visit us for more information on how were nanotubes discovered and how are nanotubes made.