Fabrication and characterization of single-walled carbon nanotube fiber for electronics applications

We present a customized technique to spin fiber from unique single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films utilizing a motorized pulling/twisting stage. The manufactured SWCNT fibers’ diameter ranged from 30 to 130 μm. Electrical measurements show fusing current of 1–200 mA – depending on the spun fiber’s diameter – which is close to the values known for copper wires with similar diameter. These results reveal that the fiber spinning process could retain most of the advantageous electrical properties of original nanotubes, and also indicate a good possibility for using these low cost, sustainable SWCNT fibers in electrical wiring applications.