Multifunctional carbon nanotube composite fibers: Properties and electronic textile applications

Abstract

Remarkable progress in the fabrication of carbon nanotube composite fibers has resulted through the development of the wet-spinning technique pioneered by Vigolo et al. [1] This process implies the fabrication of gel fibers as a result of the collapse of surfactant-stabilized carbon nanotube dispersions when injected into a coagulation bath. When dried, those gel fibers become solid fibers with high carbon nanotube contents (³ 50 wt.%), significantly higher than those achieved by other fiber spinning technologies, such as melt-spinning or electrospinning. We here report how this wet-spinning method provides carbon nanotube composite fibers with tunable properties, which mainly depend on the composition of the coagulation bath used. Polymers including polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [2-5] and polyethylenimine (PEI) [6] have been here investigated as coagulants.[7] Remarkable transport-, supercapacitor- and electrochemical actuation properties are demonstrated for these coagulation wet-spun fibers, that can be woven into fabrics and therefore offer promise for a variety of electronic textile applications [2-4].