Single-walled carbon nanotube-derived novel structural material
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Yoshinori Sato Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-857, Japan
Toru Takahashi, Mamoru Omori, and Toshiyuki Hashida Fracture and Reliability Research Institute, Tohoku University, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
Akira Okubo Institute of Materials Research, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
Kazuyuki Tohji Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-857, Japan (Received 22 October 2005; accepted 16 March 2006)
Binder-free macroscopic single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) solids were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) of purified SWCNTs. The effects of processing temperatures and pressures on the mechanical properties of the SWCNT solids and structural change of SWCNTs in the SWCNT solids were investigated. Transmission electron microscope observation of the SWCNT solids revealed that the high-temperature treatment has transformed some part of the SWCNTs into amorphous-like structure and the rest of the SWCNTs remained buried into the above structure. The mechanical properties of the SWCNT solids increased with the increasing processing temperature, probably reflecting the improvement of interfacial strength between SWCNTs and disordered structure of carbon due to the spark plasma generated in the SPS process.
I. INTRODUCTION
The predicted extraordinary mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have prompted intense research into a wide range of applications in structural materials, electronics, chemical processing, and energy management.1 In particular, the exceptional mechanical properties of this material, along with the high aspect ratio, offer great potential and an alternative for traditional fibrous materials used as reinforcing components for ultrastrong composite materials. However, the production of SWCNTreinforced composites with unprecedented mechanical properties is yet to be realized,2–7 as the critical challenges lie in uniformly dispersing the SWCNTs in composites, achieving nanotube-matrix cohesion that provides effective stress transfer, and avoiding intra-bundle
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Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/JMR.2006.0186 J. Mater. Res., Vol. 21, No. 6, Jun 2006
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sliding within SWCNT bundles. In addition, we believe that, to take full advantage of the intrinsic physical and mechanical properties of SWCNTs, it is necessary to produce solid structures composed entirely of SWCNTs. Recently, a number of attempts to form such macroscopic products have been reported.8–11 Sreekumar et al. produced SWCNT films composed entirely of SWCNTs and examined their mechanical properties by employing the tensile tests. The elastic modulus and fracture strength of the films with a density of 0.9 Mg/m3 were 8 GPa and 30 MPa, respectively.10 However, the strengthening mechanism for the observed mechanical properties and the contri
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