Epitaxial Growth of Aligned and Continuous Carbon Nanofibers from Carbon Nanotubes

Joint Theoretical and Experimental Study of Stress Graphitization in Aligned Carbon Nanotube/Carbon Matrix Composites

Stress graphitization is a unique phenomenon at the carbon nanotube (CNT)-matrix interfaces in CNT/carbon matrix (CNT/C) composites. A lack of fundamental atomistic understanding of its evolution mechanisms and a gap between the theoretical and experimental research have hindered the pursuit of utilizing this phenomenon for producing ultrahigh-performance CNT/C composites. Here, we performed reactive molecular dynamics simulations along with an experimental study to explore stress graphitization mechanisms of a CNT/polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon matrix composite. Different CNT contents in the composite were considered, while the nanotube alignment was controlled in one direction in the simulations. We observe that the system with a higher CNT content exhibits higher localized stress concentration in the periphery of CNTs, causing alignment of the nitrile groups in the PAN matrix along the CNTs, which subsequently results in preferential dehydrogenation and clustering of carbon rings and eventually graphitization of the PAN matrix when carbonized at 1500 K. These simulation results have been validated by experimentally produced CNT/PAN-based carbon matrix composite films, with transmission electron microscopy images showing the formation of additional graphitic layers converted by the PAN matrix around CNTs, where 82 and 144% improvements of the tensile strength and Young's modulus are achieved, respectively. The presented atomistic details of stress graphitization can provide guidance for further optimizing CNT-matrix interfaces in a more predictive and controllable way for the development of novel CNT/C composites with high performance.

Recent Trends in Carbon Nanotube Electrodes for Flexible Supercapacitors: A Review of Smart Energy Storage Device Assembly and Performance

In order to upgrade existing electronic technology, we need simultaneously to advance power supply devices to match emerging requirements. Owing to the rapidly growing wearable and portable electronics markets, the demand to develop flexible energy storage devices is among the top priorities for humankind. Flexible supercapacitors (FSCs) have attracted tremendous attention, owing to their unrivaled electrochemical performances, long cyclability and mechanical flexibility. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), long recognized for their mechanical toughness, with an elastic strain limit of up to 20%, are regarded as potential candidates for FSC electrodes. Along with excellent mechanical properties, high electrical conductivity, and large surface area, their assemblage adaptability from one-dimensional fibers to two-dimensional films to three-dimensional sponges makes CNTs attractive. In this review, we have summarized various assemblies of CNT structures, and their involvement in various device configurations of FSCs. Furthermore, to present a clear scenario of recent developments, we discuss the electrochemical performance of fabricated flexible devices of different CNT structures and their composites, including additional properties such as compressibility and stretchability. Additionally, the drawbacks and benefits of the study and further potential scopes are distinctly emphasized for future researchers.

Excitation of Surface Plasmon Resonance on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Metasurfaces for Pesticide Sensors

With the rapid advances in functional optoelectronics, the research on carbon-based materials and devices has become increasingly important at the terahertz frequency range owing to their advantages in terms of weight, cost, and freely bendable flexibility. Here, we report an effective material and device design for a terahertz plasmonic metasurface sensor (PMS) based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). CNT metasurfaces based on silicon wafers have been prepared and obvious resonant transmission peaks are observed experimentally. The enhanced resonant peaks of transmission spectra are attributed to the surface plasmon polariton resonance, and the transmission peaks are further well explained by the Fano model. Furthermore, the different concentration gradients of pesticides (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic and chlorpyrifos solutions) have been detected by the designed PMSs, showing the lowest detection mass of 10 ng and the sensitivities of 1.38 × 10^-2/ppm and 2.0 × 10^-3/ppm, respectively. Good linear relationships between transmission amplitude and pesticide concentration and acceptable reliability and stability have been obtained. These materials and device strategies provide opportunities for novel terahertz functional devices such as sensors, detectors, and wearable terahertz imagers.

Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Strong Carbon Matrix Composites

As an excellent candidate for lightweight structural materials and nonmetal electrical conductors, carbon nanotube reinforced carbon matrix (CNT/C) composites have potential use in technologies employed in aerospace, military, and defense endeavors, where the combinations of light weight, high strength, and excellent conductivity are required. Both polymer infiltration pyrolysis (PIP) and chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) methods have been widely studied for CNT/C composite fabrications with diverse focuses and various modifications. Progress has been reported to optimize the performance of CNT/C composites from broad aspects, including matrix densification, CNT alignment, microstructure control, and interface engineering, etc. Recent approaches, such as using resistance heating for PIP or CVI, contribute to the development of CNT/C composites. To deliver a timely and up-to-date overview of CNT/C composites, we have reviewed the most recent trends in fabrication processes, summarized the mechanical reinforcement mechanism, and discussed the electrical and thermal properties, as well as relevant case studies for high-temperature applications. Conclusions and perspectives addressing future routes for performance optimization are also presented. Hence, this review serves as a rundown of recent advances in CNT/C composites and will be a valuable resource to aid future developments in this field.

Millisecond tension-annealing for enhancing carbon nanotube fibers

Mechanically strong carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers have increasingly become the focus of the present research in the fiber industry. However, the weak or even a lack of interconnections between adjacent CNTs induces much inter-tube slippages during fiber failure, and thus results in their low mechanical strength. Moreover, achieving fast cross-linking between neighbouring CNTs on a large scale to prevent the failure by slip is still a big challenge. Herein we report an ultrafast and continuous tension-annealing process to achieve the considerably improved tube alignment and strong covalent cross-linking of neighbouring CNTs in milliseconds, resulting in great improvement of the fiber performance. The CNT fibers were heated to high temperature (∼2450 °C) by Joule heating under the applied tension and subsequently annealed for just 12 ms. Due to the rapid electromechanical response of the fibers, instant nanotube rearrangements coupled by the formation of cross-links robustly bonding the adjacent CNTs occurred at power-on, which could be attributed to the considerable increases of strength and modulus by factors of 2.9 (up to 3.2 GPa) and 4.8 (up to 123 GPa), respectively. The resultant fibers showed high specific strength (2.2 N per tex), comparable with that of PAN-based carbon fibers, and high specific electrical conductivity higher than that of PAN-based carbon fibers. Moreover, the obtained strongly crosslinked and highly dense structures also endowed the fibers with the significantly improved thermal stability under a high-temperature oxidation atmosphere. Moreover, a continuous tension-annealing process was designed to achieve the large scale production of high performance fibers with the average strength of 2.2 GPa. The high-toughness, lightweight and continuous features together with their outstanding mechanical and electrical properties would certainly boost the large-scale applications of CNT fibers.

Epitaxial Welding of Carbon Nanotube Networks for Aqueous Battery Current Collectors

Carbon nanomaterials are desirable candidates for lightweight, highly conductive, and corrosion-resistant current collectors. However, a key obstacle is their weak interconnection between adjacent nanostructures, which renders orders of magnitude lower electrical conductivity and mechanical strength in the bulk assemblies. Here we report an "epitaxial welding" strategy to engineer carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into highly crystalline and interconnected structures. Solution-based polyacrylonitrile was conformally coated on CNTs as "nanoglue" to physically join CNTs into a network, followed by a rapid high-temperature annealing (>2800 K, overall ∼30 min) to graphitize the polymer coating into crystalline layers that also bridge the adjacent CNTs to form an interconnected structure. The contact-welded CNTs (W-CNTs) exhibit both a high conductivity (∼1500 S/cm) and a high tensile strength (∼120 MPa), which are 5 and 20 times higher than the unwelded CNTs, respectively. In addition, the W-CNTs display chemical and electrochemical stabilities in strong acidic/alkaline electrolytes (>6 mol/L) when potentiostatically stressing at both cathodic and anodic potentials. With these exceptional properties, the W-CNT films are optimal as high-performance current collectors and were demonstrated in the state-of-the-art aqueous battery using a "water-in-salt" electrolyte.