Direct Insulation-to-Conduction Transformation of Adhesive Catecholamine for Simultaneous Increases of Electrical Conductivity and Mechanical Strength of CNT Fibers

Seongwoo Ryu; Jeffrey B Chou; Kyueui Lee; Dongju Lee; Soon Hyung Hong; Rong Zhao; Haeshin Lee; Sang-gook Kim

doi:10.1002/adma.201500914

Direct Insulation-to-Conduction Transformation of Adhesive Catecholamine for Simultaneous Increases of Electrical Conductivity and Mechanical Strength of CNT Fibers

Adv Mater. 2015 Jun 3;27(21):3250-5. doi: 10.1002/adma.201500914. Epub 2015 Apr 20.

Authors

Seongwoo Ryu¹, Jeffrey B Chou¹, Kyueui Lee², Dongju Lee³, Soon Hyung Hong⁴, Rong Zhao⁵, Haeshin Lee², Sang-gook Kim¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea.
³ Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, 267 Gajeong-Ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 305-340, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Engineering Product Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), 20 Dover Drive, Singapore, 138682, Singapore.

PMID: 25899742
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201500914

Abstract

Increase in conductivity and mechanical properties of a carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber inspired by mussel-adhesion chemistry is described. Infiltration of polydopamine into an as-drawn CNT fiber followed by pyrolysis results in a direct insulation-to-conduction transformation of poly(dopamine) into pyrolyzed-poly(dopamine) (py-PDA), retaining the intrinsic adhesive function of catecholamine. The py-PDA enhances both the electrical conductivity and the mechanical strength of the CNT fibers.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes; fibers; polydopamine; pyrolysis.