Abstract
Carbon nanotube yarns (CNY) are a novel carbonaceous material and have received a great deal of interest since the beginning of the 21st century. CNY are of particular interest due to their useful heat conducting, electrical conducting, and mechanical properties. The electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube yarns can also be influenced by functionalization and annealing. A systematical study of this post synthetic treatment will assist in understanding what factors influences the conductivity of these materials. In this investigation, it is shown that the electrical conductivity can be increased by a factor of 2 and 5.5 through functionalization with acids and high temperature annealing respectively. The scale of the enhancement is dependent on the reducing of intertube space in case of functionalization. For annealing, not only is the highly graphitic structure of the carbon nanotubes (CNT) important, but it is also shown to influence the residual amorphous carbon in the structure. The promising results of this study can help to utilize CNY as a replacement for common materials in the field of electrical wiring.
Highlights
To fulfill future claims on everyday applications for higher efficiency, new materials with improved physical properties and lower production costs are necessary
The multiwalled CNT (MWCNT) array were grown by chemical vapor deposition as described by Iijima et al [23]
We show a systematic study of the influence of annealing and functionalization by treatment with highly concentrated acids on the electrical conductivity and structure of carbon nanotube yarn (CNY)
Summary
To fulfill future claims on everyday applications for higher efficiency, new materials with improved physical properties and lower production costs are necessary. One of the most promising candidates for these materials is carbon nanotubes (CNT) These one-dimensional tubular carbon structures have been shown to possess an impressive array of physical properties on the scale of individual tubes [1], including but not limited to ballistic electron transport [2], high thermal conductivity [3] and mechanical strength [4]. Together with their low density and high current carrying capacity [5], they outperform most commonly used materials such as copper. Besides CNT hybrid systems with polymers, spinning macroscopic yarns out of different CNT starting materials like sheets and arrays is a promising way to incorporate these properties into practical
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