In terms of Material Chemistry, nanotubes are pretty much the common age miracle material. In short the stuff has insane potential in almost every field imaginable, due to its strength and its electromagnetic properties (sp2 bonding, with mobile pi bonds on the surface of the tube).
Currently methods to easily fabricate perfect strands are underway, and just like polymers the longer the chains/tubes, the better. There are also imperfection problems which are the main reason the true potential strength of nanotubes (in excess of Diamonds) hasn't been reached yet. In Nanochemistry (the field I'm interested in), a feasible method of making long, perfect nanotubes is one of the biggest research subjects to date.
Chemically, nanotubes are ridiculously versatile. You can stick different nanoparticle structures on them (like other fullerenes), you can dope them, you can also use them as a starting surface for Chemical Vapor Deposition if you'd really want to, as well you can do other fun things with them. People practically just add them for fun into reactions now to see what interesting thing might pop out.
stuff is crazy.
