Preparation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Solids and Their Mechanical Properties

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were successfully solidified without any additives by hot-pressing and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The elastic modulus and fracture strength of the SWCNT solid prepared by the SPS method were about three and two times higher than that of the hot-pressed SWCNT solid prepared under the same processing condition. The enhancement of the mechanical properties of the SPS specimen may be due to the formation of comparatively stronger bond between SWCNTs, which is possibly brought about by the spark plasma generated in the SPS process.