A chemical reaction inside a nanotube. The oxidized fulerenes have successively joined forming a long chain. The result of this reaction is a ramified structure, but when made within a nanotube, the product has taken the form of a simple and long chain.
According to scientists, this technique can be of great utility for the manufacture of conventional polymers, since it is a suitable technique to control the dimensions of the chains that are synthesized. In fact, the characteristics of polymers depend on the size and appearance of the chains.