The largest fraction of patent publications on CNT applications was for use in batteries (Figure ). The length of CNT and their conductivity makes them useful as molecular wires, and their strength could allow them to reduce the expansion and contraction of battery materials during charging/discharging, which leads to component separation and battery failure, or to form a barrier to dendrites, preventing short circuits and their associated hazards. These characteristics motivate the use of CNT in batteries such as (with ZnO and carbon felt) in lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery electrodes resistant to lithium dendrite formation, and materials such as graphene networks, NiCoO2, MnO2, nitrogen-doped carbon, and cobalt-iron metal-organic frameworks in biocompatible and hybrid zinc or in zinc-air batteries. One feature of note is that battery applications represent a much higher fraction of patent publications compared to journal publications (more journal publications are devoted to CNT-containing sensors than CNTcontaining batteries). Many of the patents for batteries originate from China or South Korea; a push to transition from internal combustion to electrical power for transportation, and the large consumer electronic industries in those nations likely motivate battery development and commercialization. For recyclable batteries, laboratory-scale battery manufacturing and testing can differ significantly from the methods required to produce batteries on larger scales, making the type of research performed for journal publication difficult to directly implement on large production scale, perhaps decreasing commercial interest in CNT exploratory research for batteries. The ratio of patent-to-journal publications in the use of CNT in batteries (Figure ) is consistent with other battery research; for example, in Li-ion battery recycling, patent publications exceeded journal publications by nearly a factor of Sensors incorporating CNT are a significant area of research, comparable to CNT/Polymer composites (Figure ). The strength and aspect ratio of CNT makes them able to transmit physical forces, while their electrical conductivity makes them useful at converting and transmitting stimuli. In addition, CNTs have a large specific surface area, increasing their susceptibility to external changes. A variety of sensors using CNT have been assembled, such as a pressure sensor using conductive polymers, CNT, and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) (CN2023116972905A 75 ), CNT supported on polyurethane for use as a triboelectric generator, movement sensor, or chemosensor, with superhydrophobic surface as a flexible airflow sensor, in concert with nickel triphenylene complexes as a nonbiological glucose sensor, and as nanoresistors to detect disinfectants. MWCNT have been used in combination with samarium to detect solvent vapors, with polyaniline (PANI) to form ammonia-responsive materials, with epoxy resin to form a strain-sensing conductive material, and with polyurethane and polypyrrole to form a bendable pressure sensor 83 (in the latter sensor, the use of components with differing compressibilities was critical to its effectiveness). The fraction of patent publications using CNT for sensors was smaller than the corresponding fraction of journal publications, making up 14% of journal publications but only 7% of patent publications (Figure ). One possible explanation is that sensor fabrication on laboratory scale may require more labor to assemble or more expensive materials to be readily transferable to large scale; alternatively, laboratory-conceived sensors may either be proofs of concept for sensor design or may utilize target stimuli less amenable for further development.