Following the discovery of a large scale synthesis of fullerenes, the existence of the related carbon nanotubes was suggested by high resolution electron microscopy (HREM). Larger scale syntheses of these nanotube-rich materials has now been reported and has sparked interest worldwide. Because the HREM technique essentially observes the projection of a three dimensional object onto a two-dimensional plane, the three dimensional shape of the object is usually not apparent in typical HREM images. However, as we report here, by rotating along the axis of single carbon nanotube, and recording the images in succession by HREM, the non-cylindrical nature of these tubes is revealed, especially near the sealed ends of the nanotubes. In addition, from electon diffraction and X-ray diffraction, we find the spacing between the planes to be 3.398(8) Å on average. This is in contrast to earlier reports which suggested an interlayer distance of 3.35 Å, similar to the graphite interplanar spacing.
