Twisting dependent properties of twisted carbon nanotube fibers: Microstructure and strain transfer factors

The dependences of twisting parameters on the electric and mechanical properties of twisted CNT fibers were systematically studied. Results from electric and mechanical measurements showed that twisting intensity is very effective to improve the electric and mechanical properties of CNT fibers. Further calculations combined with Raman results indicate that the twisting treatments, to a certain extent, can greatly enhance the strain transfer factors of the samples, which dominates the mechanical properties of CNT fibers. In addition, studies on the effect of twisting speeds suggested that lower twisting speed can lead to higher uniformity but lower performances in the electric and mechanical properties, higher twisting speed to higher Young's modulus and higher conductance but lower uniformities. Ultra-strong uniform CNT fibers need to be prepared with a suitable twisting speed.