title: Hot-drawing of single and multiwall carbon nanotube fibers for high toughness and alignment.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal - CNRS, Avenue Schweitzer 33600 Pessac, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miaudet
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Badaire
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maugey
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Derré
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pichot
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Launois
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poulin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zakri