Significant progress has been made in transitioning carbon nanotube (CNT) materials into physically strong, lightweight, conductive yarns that one day will replace copper wiring. However, before these CNT yarns can be integrated into everyday use, a number of structure/property issues related to their electrical properties must be addressed. Here we report the fabrication of gold depo-sition to augment the bulk electrical conductivity of the CNT yarn by ~ 2 orders of magnitude to an electrical resistivity value of 2.2 x 10-6 W*m and a current carrying capacity of 103-104A/cm2. This work evaluated the role and resulting morphology of the gold component in the CNT yarn. Specifically, this process involves a direct redox chemical reaction by the immersion of CNTs into a solution containing Au3+ ions, which causes gold nanoparticles to be generated and readily deposited on the CNTs. The redox reaction between gold and yarn produces an even distribution of Au nanoparticles (10-20 nm) as shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in   shows gold penetrating in the bulk of the CNT yarn to yield 2 nm x 20 nm, highly crystalline, gold nanowires. The conductivity and current carrying capacity of the Au/CNT composite are slightly below that of copper and much more work remains before CNTs replace copper for replacing metal wires.

Carbon nanotube: Gold nanowire composite materials

244th National Meeting (2012)

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