Direct-Write Drawing of Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Composite Microfibers

Carbon-nanotube- (CNT-) doped polymer solutions were drawn into arrays of microfibers using a novel direct-write process. This process utilizes a micromanipulator-controlled syringe loaded with solvated polymer mixed with CNTs to “write” networks of composite fibers with precisely positioned endpoints. The diameters of these composite fibers are correlated to the degree of capillary thinning that occurs prior to the solidification of the directly written CNT-doped solution filament. The fibers had diameters ranging from 7 μm to over 100 μm and possessed conductivities as high as 0.1 Sm−1. Fiber diameter was found to increase with increasing polymer concentration and decreasing fiber length and can be controlled through modulation of these parameters. The presence of CNTs was found not to significantly affect fiber diameter, despite the CNTs significant effect on viscosity, which was previously reported to influence diameter. This discrepancy is likely related to the non-Newtonian effects of CNT/polymer solutions, including an apparent shear thinning at increasing axial strain rates.