Large improvement of CNT yarn electrical conductivity by varying chemical doping and annealing treatment

We present a new efficient CNT p-type dopant based on platinum chloride IV. It decreases the resistivity by a factor of 3 and is stable over half a year. The annealing treatments above 2000 °C dramatically improve the CNT structural quality by a decade. In addition, we show that the CNT yarn electrical resistivity decreases linearly with the CNT structural quality increase and we report the world record resistivity for an undoped CNT yarn spun from CNT array (0.76 mΩ cm). We reveal that the CNT structural quality is not the only factor needed to reach high electrical conductivities. The increase in CNT structural quality significantly improves the doping efficiency by a factor of 2. By systematic measurements of the CNT yarn and web resistance from 3 K to 300 K, we are able to explain the influence of the doping, annealing, compaction and CNT length on the electrical charge transport.Graphical abstract
Source: Carbon - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research