ABSTRACT:

Carbon nano tubes are allotropes of

carbon. Carbon nano tubes are just a few
billionths of a meter across, but are ultra
strong. Their unusual properties promise
to revolutionize electronics, computers,
chemistry and material sciences. They
had been discovered in 1991.
One of the main applications of carbon
nano tubes is super strong bullet proof
vests. A new bullet proof material is
designed which actually rebounds the
force of a bullet. Bulletproof materials
at the moment are designed to spread the
force.The nature of the bonding of a
nano tube is described by applied
quantum chemistry, specifically, orbital
hybridization. The chemical bonding of
nano tubes are composed entirely of sp2
bonds, similar to those of graphite.The
lightweight fiber, made up of millions of

tiny carbon nano tubes, is starting to

reveal exciting properties. The fiber is
very strong, lightweight and good at
absorbing energy in the form of
fragments traveling at very high velocity.
Inherent property of elasticity is the
main reason for it. Carbon nano tubes
exhibit
extraordinary
mechanical
properties.
It is as stiff as diamond. The material is
already up to several times stronger,
tougher and stiffer than fibers currently
used to make protective amour. For body
armour, the strength of the fibers in a
fabric is critical parameter. Recently
preparing bullet proof t-shirts can save
lots of people from bullet hits. In future,
these amours can be used for military
applications.

INTRODUCTION:
Technology that works at the
nanometer scale of molecules and
atoms will be a large part of nano
technology. This technology will be
enabling great improvements in all the
fields of human presence .Electronics
is an area where nano technology
making great gain.
CARBON NANOTUBES is one of the
main applications of nano technology.
Carbon nano tubes are allotropes of
carbon. They are of so many types.
Among them single nano tubes have
more significance. A carbon nano tube

is a one-atom thick sheet of graphite

rolled up into a seamless cylinder with
diameter on the order of a nanometer.
This results in a nanostructure where
the length-to-diameter ratio exceeds
1,000,000. They exhibit extraordinary
strength
and
unique
electrical
properties. The inherent property of
elasticity made them to show
rebounding property. The nano tubes
are created rapidly by squirting a
carbon source, like ethanol, and an iron
nano catalyst through a hydrogen
carrier, and into a furnace at 1,200
degrees Celsius.

The size of the nano tube is in the order

of few nano meters, approximately
1/50000th of the width of a human hair,
while they can be up to several
millimeters in length. . Nano tubes are
mainly categorized as single-walled
nano tubes and multi-walled nano
tubes. Among them single walled tubes
are used to make bullet proof vests
which are mainly used for military
applications.

hybridization. The chemical bonding of

nano tubes are composed entirely of
sp2 bonds, similar to those of graphite.
This bonding structure, which is
stronger than the sp3 bonds found in
diamond, provides the molecules with
their unique strength. Nano tubes
naturally align themselves into "ropes"
held together by Vander Waals forces.
The bonding in carbon nano tubes is
sp, with each atom joined to three
neighbours, as in graphite.

EVOLUTION:
They had been discovered in 1991.The
current huge interest in carbon nano
tubes is a direct consequence of the
synthesis of buckminsterfullerene,
C60. The search was given new
importance when it was shown in 1990
that C60 could be produced in a simple
arc-evaporation
apparatus
readily
available in all laboratories. The tubes
contained at least two layers, often
many more, and ranged in outer
diameter from about 3 nm to 30 nm.
They were invariably closed at both
ends. In 1993, a new class of carbon
nano tube was discovered, with just a
single layer. It was soon established
that these new fibers had a range of
exceptional properties (see below), and
this sparked off an explosion of
research into carbon nano tubes Recent
research has focused on improving the
quality of catalytically-produced nano
tubes.

STRUCTURE:
The nature of the bonding of a nano
tube is described by applied quantum
chemistry,
specifically,
orbital

The tubes can therefore be considered

as rolled-up graphene sheets. The first
two of these, known as armchair (top
left) and zigzag (middle left) have a
high degree of symmetry. The terms
"armchair" and "zigzag" refer to the
arrangement of hexagons around the
circumference. The third class of tube,
which in practice is the most common,
is known as chiral, meaning that it can
exist in two mirror-related forms. An
example of a chiral nanotube is shown
at the bottom left.
Condensing on the walls of the
reaction vessel and some of it on the
cathode. It is the deposit on the cathode
which contains the carbon nano tubes.
Single-walled nano tubes are produced

when Co and Ni or some other metal is

added to the anode. It has been known
since the 1950s, if not earlier, that
carbon nano tubes can also be made by
passing a carbon-containing gas, such
as a hydrocarbon, over a catalyst. The
catalyst consists of nano-sized particles
of metal, usually Fe, Co or Ni. These
particles catalyze the breakdown of the
gaseous molecules into carbon, and a
tube then begins to grow with a metal
particle at the tip. It was shown in 1996
that single-walled nano tubes can also
be
produced
catalytically.
The
perfection of carbon nano tubes
produced in this way has generally
been poorer than those made by arcevaporation, but great improvements in
the technique have been made in recent
years. The big advantage of catalytic
synthesis over arc-evaporation is that it
can be scaled up for volume
production. The third important
method for making carbon nano tubes
involves using a powerful laser to
vaporize a metal-graphite target. This
can be used to produce single-walled
tubes with high yield.

FIG: MODELS OF NANO TUBES

narrower than the multi walled tubes,
with diameters typically in the range 12 nm, and tend to be curved rather than
straight. The image on the right shows
some typical single-walled tubes
Single-walled nano tubes are a very
important variety of carbon nano tube
because they exhibit important electric
properties that are not shared by the
multi-walled carbon nano tube
variants. These tubes are used to make
super strong amour bodies. They have
elastic property and hence used to
make bullet proof vests.
2. MULTI WALLED:

Carbon nano tubes of different types.

They are:

Multi-walled nano tubes consist of

multiple layers of graphite rolled in on
themselves to form a tube shape. There
are two models which can be used to
describe the structures of multi-walled
nano tubes. The special place of
double-walled carbon nano tubes must
be emphasized here because they
combine very similar morphology and
properties as compared to SWNT,
while improving significantly their
resistance to chemicals. This is
especially
important
when
fictionalization is required to add new
properties to the CNT

1. SINGLE WALLED

3.FULLERITE:

Single-walled nano tubes are generally

Fullerites
are
the
solid-state
manifestation of fullerenes and related
compounds and materials. Being
highly incompressible nano tube forms,
polymerized single-walled nano tubes
are a class of fullerites and are
comparable to diamond in terms of
hardness. However, due to the way that
nanotubes intertwine, they don't have
the corresponding crystal lattice that
makes it possible to cut diamonds
neatly. This same structure results in a

Types of carbon nano tubes:

less brittle material, as any impact that

the structure sustains is spread out
throughout the material.

4. NANO BUD:

A stable nano bud structure

Carbon nano buds are a newly
discovered material combining two
previously discovered allotropes of
carbon: carbon nano tubes and
fullerenes. In this new material
fullerene-like "buds" are covalently
bonded to the outer sidewalls of the
underlying carbon nano tube. This
hybrid material has useful properties of
both fullerenes and carbon nano tubes.
In particular, they have been found to
be exceptionally good field emitters.
Among all types, bullet proof vests can
be made from single walled nano
tubes.

SPECIFIC APPLICATION-SUPER STRONG BULLET

PROOF VESTS:
One of the main applications of carbon
nano tubes is super strong bullet proof
vests. Bullet proof vests are woven by
the carbon nano fibers which are made
up of millions of tiny carbon nano
tubes is starting to reveal exciting
properties. A new bullet proof material
is designed which actually rebounds
the force of a bullet. Bulletproof
materials at the moment are designed
to spread the force. The lightweight
fiber, made up of millions of tiny
carbon nano tubes, is starting to reveal
exciting properties the lightweight
fiber. The fiber is very strong,
lightweight and good at absorbing
energy in the form of fragments
travelling at very high velocity. So it
can be used as body amour.
Carbon nano tubes have great potential
applications in making ballisticresistance materials. The remarkable
properties of carbon nano tubes makes
them an ideal candidate for reinforcing
polymers and other materials, and
could lead to applications such as
bullet-proof vests as light as a T-shirt,
shields, and explosion-proof blankets.
For these applications, thinner, lighter,
and flexible materials with superior

Conduct electricity as copper.

These fibers can be used as space
elevators.
dynamic mechanical properties are
required. It should explore the energy
absorption capacity of a single-walled
carbon nano tube under a ballistic
impact. The result offers a useful
guideline for using carbon nano tube as
a reinforcing phase of materials to
make devices to prevent from ballistic
penetration or high speed impact. . It is
as stiff as diamond

HOW DOES BULLET PROOF

VEST WORK?

Bulletproof jackets do not turn security

guards, police officers and armed
forces into Robocops, repelling the
force of bullets in their stride. New
research in carbon nanotechnology
however could give those in the line of
fire materials which can bounce bullets
without a trace of damage.

PRINCIPLE
:
The main principle is
Carbon nano fibers are good at
absorbing energy so they can absorb
the energy coming from the bullet.
The inherent property of elasticity
makes the bullet to rebound.

STRENGTH OF FIBRE:
It is 100% stronger than the steel.
Lighter than aluminum

A research paper published in the

Institute of Physics' Nanotechnology
details how engineers from the Centre
for Advanced Materials Technology at
the University of Sydney have found a
way to use the elasticity of carbon
nanotubes to not only stop bullets
penetrating material but actually
rebound their force.

energy. The fivers are usually twisted

individually and the material covered
by a double coat of resin and plastic.
The second most used material is
Vectran, which is two times stronger
than Kevlar. New trends include spider
web, feathers and carbon nano tubes.

HOW DOES THE BULLET

PROOF
VEST
STOP
BULLETS?
When the bullet strikes the jacket, the
fiber shows its elastic property and
rebounds the bullet. The Engineers in
Australia have designed a new bullet
proof material which actually rebounds
the force of a bullet. Bulletproof
materials at the moment are designed
to spread the force. The use of
nanotechnology in design means those
in the line of fire can be shot without a
flinch.
Also known as body amours, there are
different types of bullet proof vests.
The most common is the soft vest
usually used by the police force and
private security; it cannot stop
ammunition of big caliber. Hard-plate
reinforced vests are necessary when
heavy ammunition is involved; they are
used as part of the default equipment in
the Army.
Soft bullet proof vests are formed from
advanced woven fibers that can be
sewn into vests and other soft clothing.
The fibers form a tight interlaced net
which disperses the energy of the bullet
reducing its speed until it stops. The
most effective material used in body
armor is Kevlar fiber. Kevlar is light as
cloth, but five times stronger than a
piece of steel of the same weight.
When interlaced into a dense net, this
material can absorb a great amount of

The bullets do so much damage

because of the focused blunt trauma:
they focus all the impact in a reduced
area increasing the penetration rate.
Bullet proof vests are designed to
spread the energy laterally over the
whole vest while deforming the bullet
at the same time. The system works as
the net of a soccer goal, lateral tension
of the net spreads the energy of the
impact and stops the ball without
reflecting it (in most cases), the
collision is completely inelastic. When
hard protective pieces are added, the
bullets might be deflected instead of
stopped, but in the case of soft body
armor it is extremely difficult to deflect
a bullet, it will be trapped by the
material and stopped.
Most anti-ballistic materials, like
bullet-proof jackets and explosionproof blankets, are currently made of
multiple layers of Kevlar, Twaron or
Dyneema fibers which stop bullets
from penetrating by spreading the
bullet's force.
The elasticity of carbon nano tubes
means that blunt force trauma may be
avoided and that's why the engineers in
Sydney have undertaken experiments
to find the optimum point of elasticity
for the most effective bullet-bouncing
gear.

Scientists have used the elasticity of

carbon nano tubes to not only stop
bullets penetrating material but to
actually rebound their force.
Clothing woven from the fibers that
could store electrical energy, much like
a battery, and be used to power various
electrical devices. Synthetic muscles
capable of generating 100 times the
force of the same diameter natural
muscle. Distributed fiber sensors able
to monitor the movement and health of
first responders to emergencies. A
power source for spacecraft on long
voyages through conversion of thermal
energy to electrical energy using
nanotube fibers.

SCOPE FOR FUTURE

WORK:
"Although we might be making several
kilometers a day, it's a very thin fiber,
weighing much less than a gram, "We
have to scale this up to make
kilograms. Before anyone will commit
the huge investment needed to build a
full-scale plant, they need to know that
it will make a good bullet-proof vest."
The research is going on to prepare
protective body suits.
Body amour for women personal.
Reinforced soft and hard body armour.
Helmet and body protective device.
Breathable garment to be woven to
improve the comfort of the human
body.

CONCLUSION:
We conclude that these bullet proof
vests are very effective and essential
for the coming generations. As these
are made from carbon nano fibers,
which are readily available and less in
cost, the coming generations will be
benefited more. These are safe and
protective than the bullet proofs which
are used in these days. A new
generation of bullet-proof vests and
anti-ballistic materials that are much
more effective than those in use today.