Fabricating strong and tough aramid fibers by small addition of carbon nanotubes

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 3019
• Main Authors: Luo, Jiajun, Wen, Yeye, Jia, Xiangzheng, Lei, Xudong, Gao, Zhenfei, Jian, Muqiang, Xiao, Zhihua, Li, Lanying, Zhang, Jiangwei, Li, Tao, Dong, Hongliang, Wu, Xianqian, Gao, Enlai, Jiao, Kun, Zhang, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 25.05.2023; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Aramid fiber reinforced plastics; Carbon; Fibers; High strength; Localization; Mechanical properties; Modulus of elasticity; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Polymerization; Single wall carbon nanotubes; Strain localization; Stress transfer; Tensile strength; Toughness
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38701-4

Synthetic high-performance fibers present excellent mechanical properties and promising applications in the impact protection field. However, fabricating fibers with high strength and high toughness is challenging due to their intrinsic conflicts. Herein, we report a simultaneous improvement in strength, toughness, and modulus of heterocyclic aramid fibers by 26%, 66%, and 13%, respectively, via polymerizing a small amount (0.05 wt%) of short aminated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), achieving a tensile strength of 6.44 ± 0.11 GPa, a toughness of 184.0 ± 11.4 MJ m , and a Young's modulus of 141.7 ± 4.0 GPa. Mechanism analyses reveal that short aminated SWNTs improve the crystallinity and orientation degree by affecting the structures of heterocyclic aramid chains around SWNTs, and in situ polymerization increases the interfacial interaction therein to promote stress transfer and suppress strain localization. These two effects account for the simultaneous improvement in strength and toughness.