Multiradical Character of Carbon Nanotubes

The circular curvature of carbon nanotubes (CNT) is the origin of many interesting phenomena of carbon nanotubes [1]. Unlike graphene, which possess strictly hybridized carbon atoms, carbon atoms in a CNT’s hybridization is something between and . Although the hybridization is essentially of type, the character significantly distinguishes them from graphene. Fig. 1 compares schematically a strictly π-bond in graphene with a rolled π-bond in a CNT.