Oriented Graphene Nanoribbon Yarn and Sheet from Aligned Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Sheets

摘要

Continuous fabrication of aligned graphene nanoribbons as flexible sheets and yarns could lead to woven, braided, and knitted structures that harvest, convert, and store energy, as well as provide sensing. There have been two main approaches for making graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). In the first, GNRs are assembled from carbon-containing precursors like single molecules, polymers and graphene flakes. In the second approach, GNRs are synthesized from nanotubes that already possess the high aspect ratio desired for graphene nanoribbons. Theoretical calculations predict that an external, electrical force could align disordered graphene ribbons. However, the conversion from randomly distributed and entangled nanoribbons to aligned assemblies of nanoribbons has proven challenging.