Importance

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Abstract

The invention comprises devices composed of at least one microscopic hollow tube having a wall of single or multiple layers with a thickness of at st one nanometer and a diameter of at least 5 nanometers. The walls of the tubes can be formed from a wide variety of materials, some of the preferred materials include metals, polymers, carbon, ceramics, glasses. If the space between the tubes is filled, the tubes become channels in a monolithic or composite body. The channels can have a random or ordered orientation. The interior of the tube walls can be coated with a desired material such as a catalyst and also may have depressions or elevations therein that were imparted to the fibers upon which the tubes are formed. The wall layers may be porous for the purpose of removing the fiber therethrough. Microtubes and microtube devices may be interfaced with the macroscopic world in a number of ways. Further the hollow tubes can be used to form rods or filaments in any desired configuration after the tube walls of a filled tube are removed.

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First Claim