Review of Carbon Nanotube Research and Development: Materials and Emerging Applications

In this study, we present our findings from analyzing data contained in approximately 265,000 journal and patent publications in the field of carbon nanotube (CNT)-related research spanning the last two decades (2003 to 2023). The purpose of this study is to identify and extract prominent trends and establish connections, such as those between materials and applications. Using a natural language processing (NLP)-based analysis, we have identified over 80 emerging concepts across three major categories (applications, materials, and properties) in the field of CNTs, which is presented in a "Trend Landscape" map. While early research efforts appeared to focus on synthesis techniques (including the now well-established and dominant technique of chemical vapor deposition (CVD)), in recent years the field has been driven by an increase in interest in CNT composites, especially involving other nanoscale materials such as MXene and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). High growth applications include the use of CNTs in energy storage and conversion technologies such as fuel cells, next-generation batteries, and nanogenerators, and in sensors including wearable human motion sensors. Investment data suggests commercial interest in development and use of CNTs in a variety of industry types, such as semiconductors, energy, and to a smaller extent the biomedical industry. The intent of this report is to serve as a useful guide to researchers to aid in further exploration of the field of CNT based materials and applications.