A nanotube is a

nanometer 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm) or nanometer (American and British English spelling differences#-re ...

-scale hollow tube-like structure.

Kinds of nanotubes

BCN nanotube BCN nanotubes are tubular structures with a sub-micrometer diameter and a length much longer than diameter. They are composed of comparable amounts of boron, carbon and nitrogen atoms. First made in 1994, synthesis methods have included: arc-disc ...

, composed of comparable amounts of

boron Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...

, carbon, and nitrogen atoms *

Boron nitride nanotube Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are a polymorph of boron nitride. They were predicted in 1994 and experimentally discovered in 1995. Structurally they are similar to carbon nanotubes, which are cylinders with sub-micrometer diameters and micromete ...

, a polymorph of boron nitride *

Carbon nanotube A scanning tunneling microscopy image of a single-walled carbon nanotube Rotating single-walled zigzag carbon nanotube A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with diameters typically measured in nanometers. ''Single-wall carbon na ...

, includes general nanotube terminology and diagrams * DNA nanotube, a two-dimensional lattice which curves back upon itself, somewhat similar in size and shape to a carbon nanotube *

Gallium nitride nanotube Gallium is a chemical element with the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Discovered by French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875, Gallium is in group 13 of the periodic table and is similar to the other metals of the group (aluminiu ...

, a nanotube of gallium nitride *

Silicon nanotube Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic tab ...

, made of silicon atoms *

Non-carbon nanotube A non-carbon nanotube is a cylindrical molecule often composed of metal oxides, or group III-Nitrides and morphologically similar to a carbon nanotube. Non-carbon nanotubes have been observed to occur naturally in some mineral deposits. A few year ...

, especially tungsten(IV) sulfide nanotubes *

Tunneling nanotube A tunneling nanotube (TNT) or membrane nanotube is a term that has been applied to protrusions that extend from the plasma membrane which enable different animal cells to touch over long distances, sometimes over 100 μm between T cells. Two ty ...

, a tubular membrane connection between cells * Titanium nanotubes, created by the conversion of the mineral anatase by hydrothermal synthesis

References

{{chemistry index