COVALENT CARBON NANOTUBE AND FULLERENE HYBRID STRUCTURES: MINI REVIEW

Abstract

Carbon atoms can connect with themselves and with other atoms (both electronegative and electropositive elements) in various ways. Thanks to these abilities, the diversity of carbon compounds is increasing day by day. This growth was even faster after the discovery of carbon nanoallotropes, i.e. carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, and graphene. At present, these carbon nanoallotropes are widely studied, and new hybrid structures have been synthesized based on these nanoallotropes. Hybrid structures formed by the covalent bond of fullerenes to the outside carbon nanotubes are called carbon nanobuds (CNBs). Development of synthesis methods, computational calculations, and the study of CNB properties was much faster than other hybrid structures. However, only fewer articles on CNBs have been published in recent years. CNBs show a synergistic effect and have the unique properties of the carbon nanoallotropes from which they formed. This review discusses CNBs and reports the recent research on CNBs, mostly after 2016.