Electron microscopy and nanoscience

Sumio Iijima: inventions and patents

Sumio Iijima, born in Saitama, Japan, in 1939, shared the 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience with Louis E. Brus for their impact on the development of zero and one-dimensional nanostructures. The Kavli Prize places his discovery of carbon nanotubes on 23 June 1991. He joined NEC Fundamental Research Laboratories in Tsukuba in 1987 and published the paper Helical micro-tubules of graphitic carbon in Nature in 1991, according to the Balzan Prize Foundation.^1,2

Inventions

• Carbon nanotubes, 1991. Identification of carbon nanotubes by electron microscopy, reported in the paper Helical micro-tubules of graphitic carbon, Nature, 1991.^1,2,3

Recognition

• 2007 Balzan Prize for Nanoscience²
• 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience (shared with Louis E. Brus)¹
• 2025 King Faisal Prize in Science (Physics), for the discovery of carbon nanotubes using electron microscopy³

Sources

1. The Kavli Prize, 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience (2008)
2. International Balzan Prize Foundation, Sumio Iijima, bio-bibliography (accessed 2026-10-27)
3. King Faisal Prize, Professor Sumio Iijima (accessed 2026-10-27)