“Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991)
E550059
“Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991) is the landmark paper by Sumio Iijima that reported the discovery of carbon nanotubes, launching a major new field in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” | 1 |
| “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991) canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5855524 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991) Context triple: [Sumio Iijima, hasPublication, “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991)]
-
A.
Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure, Properties, and Applications
"Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure, Properties, and Applications" is a comprehensive scientific monograph that systematically reviews the production methods, fundamental characteristics, and technological uses of carbon nanotubes.
-
B.
Plenty of Room at the Bottom
"Plenty of Room at the Bottom" is a famous 1959 lecture by physicist Richard Feynman that is widely regarded as a foundational vision for the field of nanotechnology.
-
C.
On Molecular and Microscopic Science
On Molecular and Microscopic Science is a 19th-century scientific work by Mary Somerville that surveys contemporary knowledge of physics and chemistry at the molecular and microscopic scales for a general readership.
-
D.
Nature Materials
Nature Materials is a leading peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on cutting-edge research in materials science and related interdisciplinary fields.
-
E.
London theory of superconductivity
The London theory of superconductivity is a foundational phenomenological model that explains key electromagnetic properties of superconductors, such as perfect diamagnetism and the Meissner effect, through the London equations.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991) Target entity description: “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991) is the landmark paper by Sumio Iijima that reported the discovery of carbon nanotubes, launching a major new field in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
-
A.
Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure, Properties, and Applications
"Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Structure, Properties, and Applications" is a comprehensive scientific monograph that systematically reviews the production methods, fundamental characteristics, and technological uses of carbon nanotubes.
-
B.
Plenty of Room at the Bottom
"Plenty of Room at the Bottom" is a famous 1959 lecture by physicist Richard Feynman that is widely regarded as a foundational vision for the field of nanotechnology.
-
C.
On Molecular and Microscopic Science
On Molecular and Microscopic Science is a 19th-century scientific work by Mary Somerville that surveys contemporary knowledge of physics and chemistry at the molecular and microscopic scales for a general readership.
-
D.
Nature Materials
Nature Materials is a leading peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on cutting-edge research in materials science and related interdisciplinary fields.
-
E.
London theory of superconductivity
The London theory of superconductivity is a foundational phenomenological model that explains key electromagnetic properties of superconductors, such as perfect diamagnetism and the Meissner effect, through the London equations.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (44)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | scientific article ⓘ |
| author | Sumio Iijima ⓘ |
| chronologicallyAfter | discovery of C60 fullerenes ⓘ |
| citationRole | foundational reference in carbon nanotube literature ⓘ |
| citedFor | first observation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes ⓘ |
| countryOfPublication | United Kingdom ⓘ |
| describesProperty |
concentric graphitic cylinders
ⓘ
nanometer-scale diameters and micrometer-scale lengths ⓘ |
| describesStructure |
helical microtubules of graphitic carbon
ⓘ
multi-walled tubular carbon structures ⓘ |
| discoveryClaim | identification of needle-like carbon tubes with nanometer-scale diameters ⓘ |
| documentType | peer-reviewed article ⓘ |
| era | modern nanotechnology era ⓘ |
| field |
nanoscience
ⓘ
nanotechnology ⓘ |
| hasAuthor | S. Iijima ⓘ |
| hasForm | journal article ⓘ |
| hasInfluenceOn |
academic curricula in nanoscience
ⓘ
industrial research in nanotechnology ⓘ |
| hasTitle | Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon ⓘ |
| impact |
launched major new field in nanoscience
ⓘ
launched major new field in nanotechnology ⓘ widely regarded as discovery paper of carbon nanotubes ⓘ |
| influenced |
development of nanotube-based composites
ⓘ
development of nanotube-based electronics ⓘ development of nanotube-based sensors ⓘ subsequent research on carbon nanotubes ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
carbon nanotubes
ⓘ
graphitic carbon microtubules ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1991 ⓘ |
| publishedIn | Nature ⓘ |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group ⓘ |
| recognizedAs | origin of carbon nanotube research field ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
carbon nanomaterials
ⓘ
fullerenes ⓘ
linked to:
buckminsterfullerene
|
| reportsDiscoveryOf | carbon nanotubes ⓘ |
| researchObject |
graphitic carbon
ⓘ
tubular carbon structures ⓘ |
| scientificDiscipline |
condensed matter physics
ⓘ
materials science ⓘ nanomaterials research ⓘ |
| timePeriod | early 1990s ⓘ |
| usesMethod | transmission electron microscopy ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991) Description of subject: “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991) is the landmark paper by Sumio Iijima that reported the discovery of carbon nanotubes, launching a major new field in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
Sumio
linked to: “Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon” (Nature, 1991)