Sumio Iijima
Meijo University
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Primary Section: 31, Engineering Sciences Secondary Section: 33, Applied Physical Sciences Membership Type:
International Member
(elected 2007)
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Research Interests
I have developed the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) method in the early 1979s, which laid the foundation of the current HRTEM. Nowadays the method is widely used in characterizing local structures of materials, in particular, in exploring structures of nano-crystals, clusters, individual molecules, and atoms, Using HRTEM I have discovered "carbon nanotube" (CNT) in 1991. It has a cylindrical form of up to a few graphene layers with diameter of less than 2-3 nm and length of up to millimeter. Because of its nano-meter sized structure, the carbon nanotube shows unique physical, chemical and mechanical properties different from bulk graphite. Single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) become semiconducting dependent on their chirality, so that they can be used to make electronic devices. As-grown SWCNTs are a mixture of semiconducting and metallic tubes but they have been separated applying chemical processes of detergent. Thin films of SWCNTs can be used for thin-film transistors and flexible-transparent-conductive films. Large specific surface areas of SWCNTs are an ideal molecular sieve and adsorbent. These properties are of interest in super-capacitor electrode and drug carriers for drug delivery system. Another use of SWCNTs is a specimen support for HRTEM observation that can provide an ideal noise-less supporter particularly for individual molecules and atoms.
