MECHANISMS OF STRAIN INDUCED ALIGNMENT OF CARBON NANOTUBES (CNT): PROCESS SCALE-UP AND QUASI-CONTINUOUS HIGHLY ALIGNED CNT MATERIAL

摘要

Random carbon nanotube (CNT) networks have shown unique property improvement when uniaxial strains are applied. A high degree of alignment can be induced on the CNT networks by plastic deformation. This modification leads to substantial improvements in properties such as tensile strength and Young's modulus along the alignment direction. The alignment process is also scalable, which makes the highly aligned CNT materials via strain-induced alignment an attractive material for use in a wide variety of industrial applications. The high degree of alignment is achieved due to the extra high CNT aspect ratio that causes high degrees of entanglement and locking points between the CNTs. In this research, the changes in both microscopic and macroscopic morphology of the CNT networks were studied and the mechanisms of performance enhancement were investigated. The high degree of CNT alignment and feasibility for the scaling up of production were demonstrated.