They can be used as components of nanostructured field effect transistors and single electron transistors. Their mechanical strength enables applications in nanocomposite materials and, because of the large surface area per weight, nanotubes are good candidates for all sorts of gas adsorption, including hydrogen storage for sustainable energy supplies. From X-ray investigations of graphite we know that the honeycomb lattice expands if the graphitic sheets are electrically charged. This effect can be used for electromechanical actuators. The relatively large length change and the high elastic modulus lead to very large figures of merit for carbon nanotube actuators.
Bucky paper is a free standing film of bundles of nanotubes.
1V versus a standard electrode. If the bucky paper expands, the bi-strip bends and the motion can easily be seen by the naked eye. The noodles are not individual nanotubes but bundles or ropes of several hundred tubes. These ropes are entangled to form the paper. The bar at the bottom of the figure indicates the scale.