The reporter learned from the team of Professor Wei Fei of the Department of Chemical Engineering of Tsinghua University on the 16th that the team has teamed up with Prof. Li Xide of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Tsinghua University to make a major breakthrough in the field of ultra-strong carbon nanotube fibers—the first time in the world that a single carbon was reported. Nano-management-strength ultra-long carbon nanotube tube, its tensile strength exceeds that of all other known fiber materials.
Carbon nanotubes are considered to be one of the strongest materials currently found, and theoretical calculations show that it is the only material that may help us realize the space elevator dream. However, when single carbon nanotubes are prepared into macroscopic materials , Its performance is often 'big discount', far below the theoretical value.
Wei Fei explained to the reporter that: 'Formerly thought that the main reason is that the carbon nanotubes are defective, and the length of the carbon nanotubes forming the fibers is short, and they are easily broken from the defects and easily slip with each other under the action of tension.'
The length of ultra-long carbon nanotubes can be up to centimeters or even decimeters and have a perfect structure. It has mechanical properties close to the theoretical limit, and it has great advantages in the preparation of superfibers. According to Wei Fei, the research team used the air flow focusing method. A series of centimeter-sized continuous ultra-long carbon nanotube bundles with a defined composition, perfect structure and parallel arrangement was prepared, and then a new path was found to increase the tensile strength of the bundle to more than 80 GPa, close to the tensile strength of single carbon nanotubes, and It is proved that with the increase of the number of carbon nanotubes, the strength can be maintained.
Wei Fei introduced that using this new method for preparing super-long carbon nanotube bundles combined with the team's ultra-long carbon nanotube macro-preparation method can produce ultra-long and super-strong carbon nanotube fibers for the next generation. The foundation for the industrialization of structural materials. The super fiber is expected to show itself in many fields such as large aircrafts, large carrier rockets, and super buildings.
The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Major Research and Development Program. The relevant results were published in the online version of Nature Nanotechnology.
