The carbon nanotube fibers developed by Rice University are stronger and more conductive than Kevlar fibers.
Rice University has developed the strongest and most conductive fiber, which is made from long carbon nanotubes through a wet spinning process. In this new study from Rice University, the researchers pointed out that wet-spun carbon nanotube fibers may lead to breakthroughs in many medical and material applications. Its strength and electrical conductivity double every three years. This trend spans Nearly two decades.
Although this may never be able to imitate Moore's Law, which has set the benchmark for the development of computer chips for decades, the team is doing their part to advance the method they pioneered to make carbon nanotube fibers.
There are tens of millions of linear fibers in the laboratory. They are currently under study. They are used as a bridge to repair the damaged heart, as an electrical interface with the brain, for cochlear implants, as flexible antennas, and for automobiles. And aerospace applications.
Carbon nanotube fibers have long been touted for their potential superior performance. Twenty years of research has made this potential realized. Now, global efforts are needed to improve production efficiency so that these materials can be manufactured with zero carbon dioxide emissions, and it is possible to produce clean hydrogen at the same time.
The tensile strength of the flexible Lace fiber is 4.2 gigapascals (GPa), while the Kevlar fiber is 3.6 GPa. The fiber requires long nanotubes with high crystallinity. In other words, the regular arrangement of carbon atom rings has almost no defects. The acidic solution used in the Rice process also helps to reduce impurities that may interfere with fiber strength and enhances the metallic properties of nanotubes through residual doping.
The length or aspect ratio of nanotubes is the decisive feature that determines the performance of our fibers. The surface area of the 12 micron nanotubes used in the Rice fiber contributes to better van der Waals bonds. This also helps the nanotube collaborators who control the growth of nanotubes to optimize solution processing by controlling the amount of metallic impurities in the catalyst and so-called amorphous carbon impurities.
The conductivity of this fiber has been increased to 10.9 megasiemens (million Siemens) per meter. This is the first time that carbon nanotube fibers have exceeded the 10 megasiemens threshold, so we have increased the order of magnitude of nanotube fibers to a new order of magnitude. He said that after normalization by weight, the Lace fiber can reach about 80% of the copper conductivity. But we have surpassed platinum wire, which is a huge achievement for us, and the thermal conductivity of fiber pitch is better than any metal and any synthetic fiber, except pitch graphite fiber.
The goal of the laboratory is to make the production of high-efficiency fibers both efficient and cheap enough for large-scale industrial adoption. In the production of other types of fibers, including Kevlar, solution processing is common, so factories can use familiar processes without extensive re-equipment.
Researchers believe that the advantage of this method is that it is actually plug and play. It has inherent scalability and matches the way synthetic fibers are manufactured.
There is a perception that carbon nanotubes will never acquire all the properties that people have been hyped up for decades. But every year, fruitful results are being achieved. It is not easy, but we still firmly believe that this technology will change the world.