Hot-drawing of single and multiwall carbon nanotube fibers for high toughness and alignment.
We report a new hot-drawing process for treating wet-spun composite fibers made of single- and multiwall carbon nanotubes and poly(vinyl alcohol). As shown in previous reports, untreated composite nanotube fibers exhibit a very large strain-to-failure, and their toughness, which is the energy needed to break the fibers, exceeds that of any other known materials. However, untreated composite nanotube fibers absorb a very small amount of energy at low strain and become degraded in humid conditions. In this work, we use hot-drawing treatments, a concept inspired from textile technologies, to improve the properties of nanotube/PVA fibers. This treatment yields a crystallinity increase of the PVA and an unprecedented degree of alignment of the nanotubes. These structural modifications lead to a markedly improved energy absorption at low strain and make the fibers resistant to moisture. Hot-drawn nanotube/PVA fibers hold great potential for a number of applications such as bulletproof vests, protective textiles, helmets, and so forth.
Miaudet
P
P
Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal - CNRS, Avenue Schweitzer 33600 Pessac, France.
Badaire
S
S
Maugey
M
M
Derré
A
A
Pichot
V
V
Launois
P
P
Poulin
P
P
Zakri
C
C