Tough Nano-Architectured Conductive Textile Made by Capillary Splicing of Carbon Nanotubes

Flexible electronics require electrically conductive and mechanically reliable nanoscale thin films. However, thin metal films have low fracture energy, which limits the performance of flexible devices. We demonstrate the design and synthesis of highly conductive, strong and tough nano-architectured textile by capillary splicing of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNT). Owing to the strong van der Waals forces among CNTs, the pristine CNT network has average strength of 170 MPa. The average fracture energy of the textile is 16 kJ/m², 50 folds higher than metal nanofilms. The high toughness results from crack bifurcations and friction hysteresis in a dissipation zone propagating several millimeters ahead of the crack tip. This material is suitable for applications ranging from smart skin and flexible sensors.