Nanotube technology Computer artwork of light glowing inside a cylindrical fullerene carbon nanotube This conceptual artwork is intended to illustrate possible electrical applications of carbon nanotubes The hexagonal carbon structure of the nanotube is seen here Fullerenes are a structural form allotrope of carbon Theoretically a wide range of molecular shapes can be engineered at the molecular level using fullerenes Such structures are being investigated for a wide range of technological and medical uses