Microscopic tube devices and method of manufacture

A device comprising one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes, each of said one or more tubes being formed upon a discrete catalytic carbon fiber not in contact with other discrete fibers, having a diameter of from about 5 to several thousand nanometers, said catalytic carbon fiber material having been removed by salvation or reaction to leave said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes, the wall material of said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes comprising at least two distinct layers, each layer having a thickness of at least 1 nanometer.

A device comprising one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes, each of which was formed by depositing wall-forming material on and about one or more discrete fibers not in contact with other discrete fibers, made of a material selected from the group consisting of polymeric material, glass, ceramic, metal and carbon, the wall-forming material of said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes being selected from the group consisting of alloys and compounds, the wall-forming material of said one or more tubes comprising at least two distinct layers and said one or more fibers having been removed by salvation or reaction to form said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes.

A preform comprising one or more discrete fibers having a diameter of from about 5 to about several thousand nanometers which are removable by solvation or reaction and which are not in contact with other discrete fibers, said one or more discrete fibers having been provided with one or more coatings on and thereabout, each coating having a thickness of at least 1 nanometer comprising a material relatively unaffected by the conditions of solvation or reaction used to remove the material of which the fibers are composed.

A monolithic body comprising:

• one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes in either a preselected or random orientation, the fiber material upon which said microscopic tubular material was initially formed having been removed by solvation or reaction, said discrete microscopic hollow tubes having a diameter of at least 5 nanometers;
• and
• a material filling the spaces around said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes, said filling material being either the same or of different chemical composition than the chemical composition of the tubular wall-forming material, said filling material having been placed around said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes after tubular element arrangement in the desired manner.

A microscopic filled tube-containing device comprising:

• one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes, the wall-composing material of which comprises at least one layer having a thickness of at least 1 nanometer and is composed of an alloy or compound, said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes have an inside diameter of at least 5 nanometers, said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes having been formed by depositing tube wall-composing material on or about one or more discrete fibers not in contact with other discrete fibers prior to removal of the material composing said fibers, said tube wall-composing material having been unaffected by the conditions of the salvation or reaction removal;
• and
• a material filling said one or more discrete microscopic tubes, said filling material being of a different chemical composition than the composition of the fiber material upon which said one or more discrete microscopic tubes were initially formed.

A device comprising one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes, said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes having been formed upon one or more discrete fibers not in contact with other discrete fibers, said one or more discrete fibers having been composed of a material selected from the group consisting of glass, ceramic, metal or polymer, said fiber material having been removed by solvation or reaction at a temperature lower than about 400° C. to prevent damage to the wall-forming material of said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes.

A device comprising one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes having been formed on and about one or more discrete extruded fibers having any shape extrudable from a die and the configuration of the inner surface of said one or more tubes expressing that shape, said one or more tubes having a diameter of from about 0.1 microns to about 1000 microns, the wall material of said one or more tubes comprising at least two distinct layers, and said one or more fibers having been removed by solvation or reaction to provide said one or more discrete microscopic hollow tubes.