Nanowires and carbon nanotubes

Due to their unique properties and novel applications, 1D structures such as nanowires and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) attracted a great deal of attention in the past few years. A variety of inorganic materials have been prepared in the form of nanowires by both vapor-growth and solution-growth processes [1]. CNTs including multiwalled CNTs and single-walled CNTs have been grown by many methods. As one of the most powerful and maneuverable tools in nanotechnology, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has played an important role in the research of nanowires and CNTs. It has been extensively used in the study of 1D nanomaterials including observing their morphologies in low and high magnifications, confirming their orientation, and for other purposes. In this chapter, we describe the applications of SEM in the studies of nanowires and CNTs.