Effect of conducting polypyrrole on the transport properties of carbon nanotube yarn

Experiments were conducted to measure the electrical conductivity in three types of pristine and carbon nanotube-polypyrrole (CNT-PPy) composite yarns and its dependence on over a wide temperature range. The experimental results fit well with the analytical models developed. The effective energy separation between localized states of the pristine CNT yarn is larger than that for both the electrochemically and chemically prepared CNT-PPy yarns. It was found that all samples are in the critical regime in the insulator–metal transition, or close to the metallic regime at low temperature. The electrical conductivity results are in good agreement with a Three Dimensional Variable Range Hopping model at low temperatures, which provides a strong indication that electron hopping is the main means of current transfer in CNT yarns at T < 100 K. We found that the two shell model accurately describes the electronic properties of CNT and CNT-PPy composite yarns in the temperature range of 5–350 K.

► We developed hybrid carbon nanotube conducting polypyrrole composite yarns. ► The main current transfer scheme in yarn is via three dimensional electrons hopping. ► Two shell model describes well electronic properties of yarns in range of 5-350 K.