Ultrastrong, Stiff and Multifunctional Carbon Nanotube Composites

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are an order of magnitude stronger than any other current engineering fiber. However, for the past two decades, it has been a challenge to utilize their reinforcement potential in composites. Here, we report CNT composites with unprecedented multifunctionalities, including record high strength (3.8GPa), high Young's modulus (293GPa), electrical conductivity (1230S·cm ⁻¹), and thermal conductivity (41Wm ⁻¹K ⁻¹). These superior properties are derived from the long length, high volume fraction, good alignment and reduced waviness of the CNTs, which were produced by a novel-processing approach that can be easily scaled up for industrial production.