Co-reporter: Ranulfo Allen, Lijia Pan, Gerald G. Fuller, and Zhenan Bao
pp: 9966
Publication Date(Web):June 10, 2014
DOI: 10.1021/am5019995
Single-walled carbon nanotubes/polymer composites typically have limited conductivity due to a low concentration of nanotubes and the insulating nature of the polymers used. Here we combined a method to align carbon nanotubes with in-situ polymerization of conductive polymer to form composite films and fibers. Use of the conducting polymer raised the conductivity of the films by 2 orders of magnitude. On the other hand, CNT fiber formation was made possible with in-situ polymerization to provide more mechanical support to the CNTs from the formed conducting polymer. The carbon nanotube/conductive polymer composite films and fibers had conductivities of 3300 and 170 S/cm, respectively. The relatively high conductivities were attributed to the polymerization process, which doped both the SWNTs and the polymer. In-situ polymerization can be a promising solution-processable method to enhance the conductivity of carbon nanotube films and fibers.Keywords: carbon nanotube alignment; carbon nanotube fibers; carbon nanotube thin films; conductive polymer composites; PEDOT; solution processing