Carbon nanotube yarn, thread, rope, fabric and composite and methods of making the same

Abstract

There is disclosed a material comprising an assembly of at least one spun yarn substantially comprising carbon nanotubes, a majority of which are longer than one millimeter, such as longer than one centimeter, chemically interlinked one to another, and arranged in the morphology of spiral configurations. The disclosed materials may take the form of a yarn, thread, rope, or fabric. There are also disclosed composite materials constructed from the disclosed materials.

1 . A material comprising an assembly of at least one spun yarn substantially comprising carbon nanotubes, wherein a majority of the carbon nanotubes are longer than one millimeter, and are chemically interlinked one to another. 
     
     
         2 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein the chemical interlinking is comprised of covalent bond, ionic bond, metallic bond, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The material of  claim 2 , wherein the covalent bond links carbon atoms belonging to backbones of two carbon nanotubes with no involvement of intermediate atoms. 
     
     
         4 . The material of  claim 2 , wherein the covalent bond between nanotubes involves an intermediate moiety comprising of at least one atom chosen from hydrogen, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The material of  claim 2 , wherein the ionic bond between nanotubes involves intermediate moieties with opposite charges comprising of at least one atom chosen from hydrogen, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The material of  claim 2 , wherein the metallic bonding between nanotubes involves intermediate metallic moieties comprising of at least one atom chosen from titanium, vanadium, chromium, nickel, yttrium, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, cadmium, indium, tin, rhenium, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold, lead, bismuth or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein the material comprises a yarn, thread, rope, fabric, composite or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The material of  claim 7 , wherein the composite material comprises of thread, rope, fabric or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The material of  claim 7 , wherein the composite is composed of constituent material chosen from metals, natural and synthetic polymeric materials, ceramic materials or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The material of  claim 9 , wherein the constituent material is chemically interlinked with the carbon nanotubes. 
     
     
         11 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein the tensile strength of the chemically linked, carbon nanotube spun yarn is between 0.1%-99% that of the individual carbon nanotube from which it is composed. 
     
     
         12 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein a majority of the assembled carbon nanotubes have a spiral morphology. 
     
     
         13 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanotubes are not embedded in a polymer matrix. 
     
     
         14 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein the material comprises different carbon nanotubes having at least two distinct properties chosen from electrical, mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic properties. 
     
     
         15 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein the material comprises carbon nanotubes having at least one chemical functional group attached thereto. 
     
     
         16 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein a majority of the said carbon nanotubes are longer than one centimeter. 
     
     
         17 . The material of  claim 1 , wherein a majority of the said carbon nanotubes are longer than ten centimeters.