Rapid electrothermal response of high-temperature carbon nanotube film heaters

Electrothermal materials, which convert electric energy into heat have been known for many years now. They are the heart of plethora of devices surrounding us, but their isotropic structure does not allow for tailoring of operating conditions. The carbon nanotube film heaters developed in house were built for the first time on a counter-intuitive concept to pass electric current against the alignment axis. They render superior and time-independent performance reaching terminal temperature without lag. Just 1 mg of these ultra-light free-standing films outperforms 120 g of nichrome, most commonly used resistive material. They are envisioned to become the next generation heating materials particularly in the applications, in which weight (aviation and aerospace industry), size (microreactor technology) or speed (kinetic systems) is of importance.