Curved carbon nanotubes: From unique geometries to novel properties and peculiar applications

Incorporating pentagons and heptagons into the hexagonal networks of pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can form various CNT-based nanostructures, as pentagons and heptagons will bend or twist the CNTs by introducing positive and negative curvature, respectively. Some typical so-made CNT-based nanostructures are reviewed in this article, including zero-dimensional toroidal CNTs, and one-dimensional kinked and coiled CNTs. Due to the presence of non-hexagonal rings and curved geometries, such nanostructures possess rather different structural, physical and chemical properties from their pristine CNT counterparts, which are reviewed comprehensively in this article. Additionally, their synthesis, modelling studies, and potential applications are discussed.