Carbon Nanomaterials: Fullerene to Graphene

Carbon is an essential component of life on Earth, and it comes in a variety of allotropic forms, each with its chemical and physical properties. Carbon-based nanomaterials are advanced materials that have attracted tremendous interest because of their unique properties such as ultralow weight, high Young’s modulus, high strength, tunable bandgap, outstanding carrier mobility, high anisotropy, catalytic properties, etc., and applications compared with the usual materials. The discovery of carbon nanomaterials, i.e. fullerene, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, continuously promotes the application of nanotechnology in different sectors of electronics, environment, medicine, and agriculture. Therefore, carbon nanomaterials are the most interesting and wonder materials for fundamental applied research for more than three decades. The impact of carbon nanomaterials and the status of research and development have been summarized along with the most relevant knowledge gaps. This review focuses on a comprehensive discussion on the synthesis, structure, properties, and applications of these novel classes of carbon nanomaterials.