Carbon nanotubes have several unique electrical and mechanical properties, not shared by any other molecular conductor. They form one class of molecular conductors that provide the ultimate limit for microelectronic miniaturization.

Carbon nanotubes are metallic or semiconducting depending on their chirality. Owing to their small diameter, the metallic tubes are truly one-dimensional conductors. They have been found technologically manageable as well as robust so that very large current densities (of the order of 10⁷ A/cm²) can be passed through them without any damage.

The mean free path of electrons can be several microns so that the tubes may act as ballistic conductors and, accordingly, transport is virtually noiseless. In addition, superconductivity has been reported in carbon nanotubes.