Strong, Light, Multifunctional Fibers of Carbon Nanotubes with Ultrahigh Conductivity

Abstract

Broader applications of carbon nanotubes to real-world problems have largely gone unfulfilled because of difficult material synthesis and laborious processing. We report high-performance multifunctional carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers that combine the specific strength, stiffness, and thermal conductivity of carbon fibers with the specific electrical conductivity of metals. These fibers consist of bulk-grown CNTs and are produced by high-throughput wet spinning, the same process used to produce high-performance industrial fibers. These scalable CNT fibers are positioned for high-value applications, such as aerospace electronics and field emission, and can evolve into engineered materials with broad long-term impact, from consumer electronics to long-range power transmission.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 11, 2013
Accession Number
ADA571081

Entities

People

  • Anson W. Ma
  • Colin C. Young
  • Dmitri E. Tsentalovich
  • E. A. Bengio
  • Jorrit J. De Jong
  • Natnael Behabtu
  • Olga Kleinerman
  • Ron E. Hoogerwerf
  • Ron F. Ter Waarbeek
  • Xuan Wang

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Carbon Fibers
  • Carbon Nanotubes
  • Conductivity
  • Electrical Conductivity
  • Engineered Materials
  • Fiber Spinning
  • Fibers
  • Fullerenes
  • Materials
  • Materials Engineering
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Scattering
  • Thermal Conductivity

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Economics
  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Reinforced Composite Materials

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space