1952

• Radushkevich and Lukyanovich publish a paper in the Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry showing hollow graphitic carbon fibers that are 50.34 nanometers in diameter.

1976

• Oberlin, Endo and Koyama report CVD growth of nanometer-scale carbon fibers.

1979

• Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel The Fountains of Paradise popularizes the idea of a space elevator using "a continuous pseudo-one dimensional diamond crystal".

1985

• Fullerenes discovered.

1987

• Howard G. Tennent of Hyperion Catalysis issued a U.S. patent for graphitic, hollow core "fibrils".

1991

• Nanotubes discovered in the soot of arc discharge at NEC, by Japanese researcher Sumio Iijima.
• August — Nanotubes discovered in CVD by Al Harrington and Tom Maganas of Maganas Industries, leading to development of a method to synthesize monomolecular thin film nanotube coatings.

1992

• First theoretical predictions of the electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes by groups at Naval Research Laboratory, USA; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and NEC Corporation

1993

• Groups led by Donald S. Bethune at IBM and Sumio Iijima at NEC independently discover single-wall carbon nanotubes and methods to produce them using transition-metal catalysts.

1995

• Swiss resesearchers are the first to demonstrate the electron emission properties of carbon nanotubes. German inventors Till Keesmann and Hubert Grosse-Wilde predicted this property of carbon nanotubes earlier in the year in their patent application.

1997

• First carbon nanotube single-electron transistors (operating at low temperature) are demonstrated by groups at Delft University and UC Berkeley.
• The first suggestion of using carbon nanotubes as optical antennas is made in the patent application of inventor Robert Crowley filed in January of 1997.

1998

• First carbon nanotube field-effect transistors are demonstrated by groups at Delft University and IBM.

2000

• First demonstration proving that bending changes resistance

2001

• April — IBM announces a technique for automatically developing pure semiconductor surfaces from nanotubes.

2002

• January — Multi-walled nanotubes demonstrated to be fastest known oscillators (> 50 GHz).
• REBO method of quickly and accurately modeling classical nanotube behavior is described.

2003

• April — Demonstration proves that bending changes resistance.
• June — High purity (20% impure) nanotubes with metallic properties were reported to be extracted with electrophoretic techniques.
• September — NEC announced stable fabrication technology of carbon nanotube transistors

2004

• June — Scientists from China's Tsinghua University and Louisiana State University demonstrated the use of nanotubes in incandescent lamps, replacing a tungsten filament in a lightbulb with a carbon nanotube one.
• March — Nature published a photo of an individual 4 cm long single-wall nanotube (SWNT).
• August — Varying the applied voltage emits light at different points along a tube.

2005

• May — A prototype high-definition 10-centimetre flat screen made using nanotubes was exhibited.
• August — University of California finds Y-shaped nanotubes to be ready-made transistors.
• August — General Electric announced the development of an ideal carbon nanotube diode that operates at the "theoretical limit" (the best possible performance). A photovoltaic effect was also observed in the nanotube diode device that could lead to breakthroughs in solar cells, making them more efficient and thus more economically viable.
• August — Nanotube sheet synthesised with dimensions 5 × 100 cm.
• September — Applied Nanotech (Texas), in conjunction with six Japanese electronics firms, have created a prototype of a 25-inch TV using carbon nanotubes. The prototype TV does not suffer from "ghosting," as some types of digital TVs do.
• September — Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory demonstrated that ignition by a conventional flashbulb takes place when a layer of 29% iron enriched SWNT is placed on top of a layer of explosive material such as PETN. With ordinary explosives optical ignition is only possible with high powered lasers.
• September — Researchers demonstrated a new way to coat MWNT's with magnetite which after orientation in a magnetic field were able to attract each other over a distance of at least 10 micrometres.The nanotubes were functionalized with negatively charged carboxylic acid groups in an AIBN type free radical addition. Magnetite nanoparticles prepared by the Massart method were given a positive charge by washing with nitric acid which made them stick to the nanotubes by electrostatic forces.
• September — American and Korean scientists, working at Columbia University and Pohang University of Science and Technology and lead by Professor's Philip Kim of Columbia and Kim Kwang-Soo of Pohang, succeeded in pulling out a nested tube from a multiwalled nanotube (MWNT).
• November — Liquid flows up to five orders of magnitude faster than predicted through array.
• December — Indian Institutes of Technology Kanpur(India) announces presence of CNT in Soft-Kohl.

2006

• January — Thin films of nanotubes made by evaporation.
• January — Another new method for growing forests of nanotubes is announced.
• January — Elasticity increased from 20% to 280% by raising temperatures, causing diameter and conductivity to change greatly.
• March — IBM announces that they have built an electronic circuit around a CNT.
• March — Nanotubes used as a scaffold for damaged nerve regeneration.
• May — Method of placing nanotube accurately is developed by IBM.
• June — Gadget invented by Rice University that can sort nanotubes by size and electrical properties
• July — Nanotubes were alloyed into the carbon fiber bike that won the 2006 Tour de France.
• August — oscillating nanotubes found to detect and identify individual molecules.

References

External links

• New Scientist — Special Report on Nanotechnology