Flexible, quickly responsive and highly efficient E-heating carbon nanotube film

Joule heating materials with excellent thermal behavior, easy processability and reusability are very desirable in soft robotics, multifunctional smart structures, and wearable electronics. Carbon nanotube film (CNTF) formed by floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition (FFCVD) method possesses high electrical conductivity which makes it a potential candidate as a joule heating material. In this study, the electro-heating (E-heating) behaviors of CNTF with various dimensions and deformations were investigated by applying various voltages. The asproduced CNTF reached a steady-state temperature of 310 degrees C (1 cm x 0.5 cm) within 1 s under a low voltage of 2.5 V by the homogeneous temperature distribution. Furthermore, E-heating behavior of CNTF remained stable after bending and twisting deformations as well as On/Off voltage switching cycles (up to 200 times). As a potential application, the CNTF embedded 3D spacer woven composites de-iced the ice by 338 times weight ratio within 9 min, demonstrating its promising E-thermal performance.