M-2 Graphene, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes

Materials Science and Nanotechnology

Fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene are carbon-based nanostructures which have all in common to be based on the C sp2 hybridation and to be systems with a reduced dimensionality compared to the bulk reference material, namely graphite. Since their emergence in 1985, 1991 and 2003-2004 respectively, they have attracted an intense worldwide research effort because the combination of different effects: they are made of carbon, their structure is very simple and very stable, they are easy to synthesize and above all, they display unique physical and chemical properties due to their reduced dimensionality. It can be emphasized that single walled carbon nanotubes and graphene are not only model systems for understanding at a fundamental level electronic properties of 1D and 2D systems respectively but also very promising candidates for a wide range of nanoscience and nanotechnology applications.

Transmission electron microscopy techniques are essential tools for studying the structure and the properties of nanostructures, and are intimately associated with the emergence of Nanosciences. The identification of multi walled and single walled carbon nanotubes in 1991 and 1993 respectively, is with no doubt one of the most striking examples of the key role played by these techniques.

It is the objective of the symposium to overview the wide range of possibilities, transmission electron microscopy techniques can offer for studying these nanostructures starting from their atomic and chemical structure, their electronic, magnetic, optical properties up to their dynamical behaviour under various solicitations which can be operated in situ : temperature, exposure to a gas, effect of an electric or magnetic field, irradiation, optical excitation induced by a laser…. A particular emphasis of the symposium will be placed on the quantification of the phenomena, which can be investigated, by cross-linking TEM approaches with alternative tools such as optical spectroscopies.

Chairpersons:

Invited Speakers:
- Jannick Meyer, University of Ulm, Germany
- Julio A Rodriguez-Manzo, University of Starsbourg, France