Mechanical and electrical enhancement of super-aligned carbon nanotube film by organic and inorganic doping

Inspired by the chemical and physical doping methods on traditional composites, bismaleimide (BMI) resin and graphene oxide (GO) are selected for doping modification of carbon nanotube (CNT) film in this paper. Based on the diverse enhancement effects of CNT film, the mechanisms and characteristics of resin crosslink and inorganic doping are compared. Due to the crosslinking network of resin, BMI is more beneficial for cooperative deformation and mechanical enhancement, while GO doping shows more advantages in improving electrical performance because of the numerous functional groups on the surface, and good intrinsic properties. With the appropriate doping method and optimized process conditions, the tensile property and electrical conductivity of CNT film can be improved by over 150% and 200% (e.g., tensile strength and modulus of 2990 MPa and 149 GPa, and electrical conductivity of 38 700 S m^-1).