Applications of 3D multifunctional carbon nanotube networks

The future success of smart devices based on nanomaterials resides in exploiting their physical properties, such as mechanical and electrical ones, in a targeted application. In this scenario, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been extensively employed in various shapes and applications for decades. Recently, we synthesized bulk three-dimensional carbon networks consisting of randomly interconnected CNTs that display structural flexibility rarely observed in other highly porous materials, as shown in Figure 1. The novel material was applied as active media for water purification, as a mechanical transducer, as a photocurrent generator, in electromagnetic applications and others. Recently, such carbon-based scaffold material, once functionally integrated into spinal cord injury rats, proved to possess the necessary morphological and electrical characteristics to help heal the injured spinal cord, favouring its reconstruction. The results prove that the combination of nanotechnology and neurobiology might succeed in designing hybrid microsystems.