Highly aligned carbon nanotube/polymer composites with much improved electrical conductivities

Carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composites are generally synthesized by coating CNT/polymer mixture solutions into films or powders. A main challenge is that CNTs are randomly dispersed in derived composites, which results in extremely low electrical conductivities. Here we report the synthesis of highly aligned CNT/polymer composites with much improved conductivities by incorporating polymers into aligned CNT arrays. The key point in this work is to grow dense and robust CNT arrays through a chemical vapor deposition process. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.