Soldering carbon nanotube fibers by targeted electrothermal-induced carbon deposition

We introduce a facile approach to solder carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers by depositing carbon nanostructures at targeted fiber connections. Electrothermal induced deposition (ETID) process facilitates thermal chemical vapor deposition via current-induced Joule heating. Various carbon structures are formed between the overlapped fibers, with nanofibers covered by amorphous carbon and carbon nanowalls, resulting in effective soldering. The soldered connection between crossing fibers can be much stronger than the pristine CNT fiber: the separation force of the connection is measured to be up to 460 mN while the fracture force of the fiber is about 74 mN. The contact resistance decreased from >120 to 4.8 Ω after the ETID treatment. Such robust electrical soldering can be applied to connect CNT fibers in both parallel and cross configuration, to generate a soldered one-dimensional (1D) line, 2D network, and 3D cage.

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