A non-carbon nanotube is a cylindrical molecule often composed of metal oxides, or group 13-Nitrides, such as BN, AlN,[1][2], GaN and morphologically similar to a carbon nanotube. Non-carbon nanotubes have been observed to occur naturally in some mineral deposits.[3]
A few years after Linus Pauling mentioned the possibility of curved layers in minerals as early as 1930,[4] some minerals such as white asbestos (or chrysotile) [5] and imogolite[6] were actually shown to have a tubular structure. However, the first synthetic non-carbon nanotubes did not appear until Reshef Tenne et al. reported the synthesis of nanotubes composed of tungsten disulfide (WS2) in 1992.[7]
In the intervening years, nanotubes have been synthesised of many non-carbon materials, such as vanadium oxide and manganese oxide, and are being researched for such applications as redox catalysts and cathode materials for batteries.
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