Carbon Nanotube Yarn

• A promising new material
• Research aim
• Current activities
• Expertise 
• Collaboration

Carbon Nanotube Yarn is a key research capability within CSIRO's Future Manufacturing Flagship which aims to help Australia create new niche manufacturing industries and lead the transition of existing manufacturing industries for global success.

A promising new material

Carbon nanotubes are sub-microscopic, hollow fibres of pure carbon, and are a promising new material with applications in areas such as:

• textiles
• flexible electronics
• photovoltaics
• biomedical devices.

The basis of this broad range of applications is the unique combination of properties of carbon nanotubes including:

• high strength
• good electrical conductivity
• excellent thermal conductivity
• low density.

Research aim

This research will support the establishment of new Australian business activity in the production and use of carbon nanotube yarns.

This will be achieved by scaling-up ground breaking technology developed for the production of dry-spun carbon nanotube yarns, enabling the industrialisation of the spinning of carbon nanotubes for the production of strong yarns used for textiles that conduct heat and electricity.

Current activities

To support this aim our research is centred around two research streams:

• Up-scaled Production of Carbon Nanotubes
• Applications in Lightweight, High-strength Materials and Biomedical Devices.

Our research aims to improve yarn quality and to industrialise the spinning process - dealing with issues such as:

• strength
• structure
• spinning head design
• productivity.

This research will lead to the establishment of a boutique nanotube manufacturing facility for Australia that will enable the manufacture of new products utilising the unique properties of carbon nanotube yarns (and webs).

Expertise

CSIRO has a world-leading position in the production of solid-state processable carbon nanotubes for spinning into yarn or drawing into web. We have expertise in the following fields:

• reactor design and construction
• physical organic chemistry
• chemical engineering and process development
• computerised process control and analysis
• fibre physics
• yarn structure and properties
• photovoltaics and electrochemistry
• dispersal of nanotubes in fluids, such as polymers and surfactants
• polymer-nanotube binding
• functionalisation
• electron and atomic force microscopy.

Collaboration

Our major collaborator is the NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, USA, with whom we hold a patent on the solid-state processing of carbon nanotubes.

We continually explore the possibility of establishing collaborations with leading groups in the carbon nanotube research community.

Learn more about Future Manufacturing Flagship overview.

Contact Information

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Related Links

• Future Manufacturing Flagship
• Materials
• Manufacturing
• Nanomaterials
• CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering

• Exploring applications for carbon nanotubes
• Future Manufacturing Flagship overview