title: In-Situ Welding Carbon Nanotubes into a Porous Solid with Super-High Compressive Strength and Fatigue Resistance.
abstract: Carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene-based sponges and aerogels have an isotropic porous structure and their mechanical strength and stability are relatively lower. Here, we present a junction-welding approach to fabricate porous CNT solids in which all CNTs are coated and welded in situ by an amorphous carbon layer, forming an integral three-dimensional scaffold with fixed joints. The resulting CNT solids are robust, yet still highly porous and compressible, with compressive strengths up to 72 MPa, flexural strengths up to 33 MPa, and fatigue resistance (recovery after 100,000 large-strain compression cycles at high frequency). Significant enhancement of mechanical properties is attributed to the welding-induced interconnection and reinforcement of structural units, and synergistic effects stemming from the core-shell microstructures consisting of a flexible CNT framework and a rigid amorphous carbon shell. Our results provide a simple and effective method to manufacture high-strength porous materials by nanoscale welding.
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xuchun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gui
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qiming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yanbing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Anyuan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Lab of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, P. R. China [2] Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Zikang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang