Purification and Dissolution of Carbon Nanotube Fibers Spun from the Floating Catalyst Method

Abstract

In this study, we apply a simple but effective oxidative purification method to purify carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers synthesized via a floating catalyst technique. After the purification treatment, the resulting CNT fibers exhibited significant improvements in mechanical and electrical properties with an increase in strength, Young's modulus, and electrical conductivity by approximately 81, 230, and 100%, respectively. With the successful dissolution of the CNT fibers in superacid, an extensional viscosity method could be applied to measure the aspect ratio of the CNTs constituting the fibers, whereas high-purity CNT thin films could be produced with a low resistance of 720 Ω/sq at a transmittance of 85%. This work suggests that the oxidative purification approach and dissolution process are promising methods to improve the purity and performance of CNT macroscopic structures.