Graphene Technologies and Carbon Nanotubes

Novel Hybrid carbon materials

Large molecular building blocks for hybrid materials, such as large inorganic clusters, may be of the nanometre length scale. The term hybrid material is more often used if the inorganic units are formed in situ by molecular precursors, for example applying sol–gel reactions. The biggest distinction between a Nano composite and a hybrid is that a hybrid material possesses a property that does not exist in either of the parent components. Graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes are carbon materials that exhibit excellent electrical conductivities and large specific surface areas. An effective, economic way of using carbon fiber is to combine it with a resin and another material, either a fiber or a metal, to produce a hybrid structure.