A major milestone in nanoscale material science: the 2002 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics presented to Sumio Iijima

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded the 2002 Benjamin Franklin Medal in physics to Sumio Iijima for his discovery and elucidation of the atomic structure and helical character of multi- and single-wall carbon nanotubes. His pioneering work created a new, tremendously active and expanding area in the field of nanoscience and technology that involves condensed matter and material scientists, chemists and computer scientists. Iijima has also made key contributions to the mechanisms that are involved in the growth of carbon nanotubes, to the role of pentagonal and heptagonal carbon rings in the formation of caps that form at the ends of the nanotubes and to the encapsulation of molecules within the nanotubes.