1] Nano-X Research Center, Key Laboratory of Pressure Systems and Safety (MOE), School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 520, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China [2].
1] School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong Chuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China [2].
Nat Commun. 2014 Jun 25;5:3848. doi: 10.1038/ncomms4848.
Macroscopic fibres made up of carbon nanotubes exhibit properties far below theoretical predictions and even much lower than those for conventional carbon fibres. Here we report improvements of mechanical and electrical properties by more than one order of magnitude by pressurized rolling. Our carbon nanotubes self-assemble to a hollow macroscopic cylinder in a tube reactor operated at high temperature and then condense in water or ethanol to form a fibre, which is continually spooled in an open-air environment. This initial fibre is densified by rolling under pressure, leading to a combination of high tensile strength (3.76-5.53 GPa), high tensile ductility (8-13%) and high electrical conductivity ((1.82-2.24) × 10(4) S cm(-1)). Our study therefore demonstrates strategies for future performance maximization and the very considerable potential of carbon nanotube assemblies for high-end uses.
由碳纳米管组成的宏观纤维表现出的性能远低于理论预测值，甚至比传统碳纤维还要低。在这里，我们通过加压轧制将机械和电学性能提高了一个数量级以上。我们的碳纳米管在高温下的管式反应器中自组装成一个空心宏观圆柱体，然后在水或乙醇中冷凝形成纤维，在开放的环境中连续卷绕。这种初始纤维通过在压力下轧制而致密化，从而具有高拉伸强度（3.76-5.53 GPa）、高拉伸延展性（8-13%）和高导电性（(1.82-2.24)×10(4) S cm(-1)）。因此，我们的研究证明了未来性能最大化的策略，以及碳纳米管组件在高端应用中非常可观的潜力。
