Mechanical Properties of Continuously Spun Fibers of Carbon Nanotubes

We report on the mechanical properties of fibers consisting of pure carbon nanotube fibers directly spun from an aerogel formed during synthesis by chemical vapor deposition. The continuous withdrawal of product from the gas phase imparts a high commercial potential to the process, either for the pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano letters 2005-08, Vol.5 (8), p.1529-1533
Main Authors: Motta, Marcelo, Li, Kinloch, Ian, Windle, Alan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Elasticity
Electronics
Exact sciences and technology
Materials Testing
Mechanics
Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology)
Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals
Nanotechnology - methods
Nanotubes, Carbon - analysis
Nanotubes, Carbon - chemistry
Nanotubes, Carbon - ultrastructure
Particle Size
Physics
Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices
Stress, Mechanical
Structure of solids and liquids
crystallography
Tensile Strength
Textiles - analysis
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Summary:We report on the mechanical properties of fibers consisting of pure carbon nanotube fibers directly spun from an aerogel formed during synthesis by chemical vapor deposition. The continuous withdrawal of product from the gas phase imparts a high commercial potential to the process, either for the production of particularly strong fibers or for the economic production of bulk quantities of carbon nanotubes. Tensile tests were performed on fibers produced from the dissociation of three different hydrocarbons, namely, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and hexane, with a range of iron (catalyst) concentrations. The conditions were chosen to lie within the range known to enable satisfactory continuous spinning, the iron concentration being varied within this range. Increasing proportions of single wall nanotubes were found as the iron concentration was decreased, conditions which also produced fibers of best strength and stiffness. The maximum tensile strength obtained was 1.46 GPa (equivalent to 0.70 N/tex assuming a density of 2.1 g/cm3). The experiments indicate that significant improvements in the mechanical properties can be accomplished by optimizing the process conditions.
ISSN:1530-6984
1530-6992
DOI:10.1021/nl050634+