Abstract
Carbon nanotubes (CNT), having high aspect ratio of several tens nanometer in diameter and several millimeter in length, were spun into continuous yarns. Since CNT, which is a covalently bonded crystal of carbon, has quite high tensile strength and modulus with very low weight density of 2g/cm3, it has been expected to be used in structural materials as a light-weight and strong reinforcing material. However mechanical properties of the CNT yarn, in which CNTs are connected by van der Waals force, is far below that of CNT short fiber. The purpose of the present study is to derive high materials properties from CNT into a macroscopic CNT structure of spun yarn. We describe our fabrication method of the CNT yarns and discuss mechanical properties of the yarns.
