A Single Glass Fiber with Ultrathin Layer of Carbon Nanotube Networks Beneficial to <i>In-Situ</i> Monitoring of Polymer Properties in Composite Interphases

<div><p>Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is used to deposit multiwalled carbon nanotube networks (CNTs) onto electrically insulating glass fiber surfaces. We found that the thin networks on a single glass fiber surface exhibit semiconducting properties. This enables us to realize a single CNT-glass fiber as a probe with novel multifunctional capabilities for <i>in-situ</i> monitoring of various chemical/physical transitions, particularly in the interphase region between polymer and glass fiber. Because of the intimate interaction between CNTs and polymers in the vicinity of a glass fiber, our CNT probe can rapidly sense the local changes of fundamental polymer properties, such as glass transition, reaction activation energy, cross-linking reaction, and crystallization.</p>