Electroactive superelongation of carbon nanotube aggregates in liquid crystal medium.
We report an effect of superelongation of carbon nanotube (CNT) aggregates driven by the electric field in a liquid crystal (LC) medium. The CNT aggregates started to elongate above a certain threshold field and sustained the elongation up to nearly 400% in the linear region with a large electroactive constant of 70 (V/microm)-1. The original morphology of the CNT aggregates was restored upon removal of the field. The elongation was fully reversible below a certain breakdown field, irrespective of the nematic or isotropic phase of the LC medium. The overall process involved (i) the alignment of CNT aggregates to increase the dipole energy of aggregates in the presence of the bias voltage, (ii) stretching of the CNTs by sliding-out from the bundles, and (iii) the entropic elasticity that restores the randomly entangled CNT network of the original aggregates after suppression of the bias voltage.
Jeong
Seok Jin
SJ
School of Advanced Materials Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Chonju, Chonbuk 561-756, Korea.
Park
Kyung Ah
KA
Jeong
Seok Ho
SH
Jeong
Hee Jin
HJ
An
Kay Hyeok
KH
Nah
Chang Woon
CW
Pribat
Didier
D
Lee
Seung Hee
SH
Lee
Young Hee
YH
D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation / Q000528:radiation effects; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
D003102:Colloids; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon