Preparation and electrical conductivity of different fibres prepared from vertically aligned carbon nanotubes

International audienceDue to their exceptional electrical, chemical, thermal and mechanical properties, carbon nanotubes (CNT) are particularly appealing as building block of fibres, in particular to form light-weight conducting cables for electricity transport. One direct potential application is their use as High Voltage devices in transmission grid. Indeed, the possibility to help in theemergence of a new technology - especially for OverHead Lines (OHL) conductors with low electrical resistance as well as reduced weight and good mechanical properties - was considered as a promising topic. Several studies are reporting the preparation of fibres from carbon nanotubes, either CNT/polymer composite fibres or CNT fibres, together with the study of theirelectrical and mechanical properties. However, it is difficult to make a precise comparison between the different types of fibres since they are produced through various processes and with different types of CNTs. The characteristics and intrinsic physical properties of the nanotubes used are rarely fully documented so that their impact on the fiber performances is difficult to assess precisely. The approach followed in our study consists in elaborating CNTbased fibres from vertically aligned carbon nanotubes and, second, measuring both the intrinsic electrical properties of the individual CNTs used for fibre preparation and the electrical conductivity of the resulting fibres in order to evaluate the actual benefits of the CNT quality on the fibre performances