Preparation of carbon nanotubes composite sheet using electrophoretic deposition process

摘要

Since the discovery by Ijima [1] in 1991, carbon nanotubes have attracted tremendous attention. Interest in such a material arise from the fact that the mechanical, chemical, electrical, optical, magnetic, and electro- and magneto-optical properties of these nanotubes are different from their bulk properties, attributed largely to the quantum confinement effects [2-11]. For instance, theoretical predictions have suggested that the Young's modulus of carbon nanotubes could be as high as 1-5 TPa [12, 13] and the theoretical tensile strength as high as 200 GPa [14]. Various experimental techniques [15-19] conducted on the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes also showed very promising results, albeit still much smaller than theoretical prediction. Furthermore, it is widely accepted that the issue of heat dissipation in miniature devices becomes increasingly important as the size of the device reduces. Therefore, carbon nanotubes may play an important role in improving the performance and stability of nanosized devices because of their high thermal conductivity.