A review on conducting carbon nanotube fibers spun via direct spinning technique

Due to our modern standard of living, the demand of electrical energy is growing rapidly. To meet this exigency, the conventional metal wires have become obsolete to meet highly efficient electrical energy supply demands. The suitable alternative to metal wires must exhibit good electrical and thermal conductivity, low mass density, negligible skin effects and non-corrosive properties. The axially aligned carbon nanotubes (CNT) assemblies, the CNT fibers, are among the most promising materials to meet these requirements. The CNT fibers hold great potential for highly fuel-efficient electric vehicles and low-power nanochips in ever-advancing computer hardware where conventional wires have no future. This article provides an overview of the conducting nature of CNT fibers. First, CNTs as futuristic conducting material will be elucidated briefly, followed by synthesis techniques of CNT fiber. Specific attention is devoted to the direct spinning technique (FC-CVD) as the fiber produced by this method has quite high electrical conductivity (EC) and of limitless length. Then, the effect of various parameters (during synthesis like carrier gas or feedstock flow rate and after synthesis like doping of metallic nanomaterials, coating of polymers or interaction with the acidic environment) on its EC is discussed. This study would pave the way for the bright future of CNT fiber to be used as electrical wiring by concentrating on current challenges confronting this field.