Abstract Submitted to the    NANOTUBE'04 Conference:

Many routes have been developed for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes, but their assembly into continuous fibres has only so far been achieved through post-processing methods. Here, we will show that it is also possible to spin fibres and ribbons of carbon nanotubes directly from the CVD synthesis zone of a furnace using a liquid hydrocarbon as the carbon feedstock, ferrocene as the catalyst and thiophene as a promoter (1). The nanotubes form rapidly upon the precursors entering the furnace, with the nanotubes produced interacting to form an aerogel sock. This aerogel is then mechanically drawn out of the furnace to produce the fibres. Alternatively, the aerogel may be spin-coated onto preformers to produce non-woven pre-pregs for composites with a high loading of nanotubes.

The effect of the variation of the precursors will be discussed, including the importance of oxygen containing hydrocarbons on achieving a spinnable product. The relative ratios of the precursors are also found to control whether single or multi-walled nanotubes are produced. Finally, preliminary mechanical property data for the fibres will be discussed.

1. Li et al. Science, in press