1. Context

Measurements carried out around the world confirm the supremacy of carbon nanotubes on an individual scale.

The same cannot be said of macroscopic materials containing large numbers of nanotubes dispersed in a matrix or in direct interaction. With a few exceptions, their performance has not lived up to expectations. To produce composites worthy of the name, new processes need to be developed to optimize factors such as nanotube-matrix interactions, dispersion, orientation and nanotube quality. This dossier takes stock of the current situation in the...