Abstract
The electrical conductivity and mechanical strength of fibers constructed from single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are usually limited by the weak interactions between individual CNTs. In this work, we report a significant enhancement of both of these properties through chemical cross-linking of individual CNTs. The CNT fibers are made by wet-spinning a CNT solution that contains 1,3,5-tris(2′-bromophenyl)benzene (2TBB) molecules as the cross-linking agent, and the cross-linking is subsequently driven by Joule heating. Cross-linking with 2TBB increases the conductivity of the CNT fibers by a factor of ∼100 and increases the tensile strength on average by 47%; in contrast, the tensile strength of CNT fibers fabricated without 2TBB decreases after the same Joule heating process. Symmetrical supercapacitors made from the 2TBB-treated CNT fibers exhibit a remarkably high volumetric energy density of ∼4.5 mWh cm-3 and a power density of ∼1.3 W cm-3.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 632-639 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | ACS Nano |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 28 Jan 2020 |
Keywords
- Joule heating
- carbon nanotube fiber
- electrical conductivity
- mechanical strength
- supercapacitor