Assemblies of carbon and boron-nitrogen nanotubes and fullerenes: Structure and properties

This review concerns assemblies of the main carbon nanostructures (fullerenes and nanotubes) generated by interactions between similar and dissimilar species. The two major families of these nanomaterials are reviewed: (1) assemblies with weak (van der Waals) bonds between fullerenes and/or nanotubes (fullerites, nanopeapods, nanotube bundles, and nanotubular crystals) and (2) assemblies formed by covalently bonded (polymerized) fullerenes and/or nanotubes (covalent crystals of small fullerenes C (n < 60) , nanobuds, ropes of polymerized nanotubes, and covalent networks built of nanotubes). Data are systematized on their atomic structures, stability factors, electronic structures, chemical bonding, physical and chemical properties, and potential fields of application. Related heteronanomaterials (assemblies of boron-nitrogen fullerene-like molecules and/or nanotubes) are reviewed briefly.