Researchers at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, have reportedly collaborated with researchers in China to produce polymer/carbon-nanotube composite fibers with lengths over 50 cm. Made by a simple and direct handwriting process, carbon nanotubes can be aligned inside a continuous and uniform polymer fiber with diameters ranging from 300 nm to several micrometers.
The fibers serve as precisely controlled conducting wires for flexible electronics. The as-prepared continuous fibers exhibit high electrical conductivity as well as superior mechanical flexibility (no obvious conductance increase after 1000 bending cycles to 4 mm diameter). Such functional fibers can be easily configured into designed patterns with high precision according to the easy “writing” process.
The easy construction and assembly of functional fibers holds potential for convenient and scalable fabrication of flexible circuits in future smart devices such as wearable electronics and three-dimensional electronic devices.
The results have been reported in the February 8, 2015 online edition of Nano Letters (“Direct Writing of Half-Meter Long CNT Based Fiber for Flexible Electronics”).
Yi Cui, Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University. [email protected]
