Fabrics that have unique mechanical properties are comprised of fibers that have been reacted to provide carbon nanostructures covalently grafted to these fibers so that the entanglement and/or the reactive bonding between adjacent fibers creates a hierarchal structure reinforcement of the fabric. This entanglement and/or reactivity is also effective for developing reinforcement between plies of structural fabric composites in order to enhance inter-laminar shear strength and mechanical properties.

A non-woven carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite object is formed by the variable frequency microwave (VFM) irradiation of a mixed fiber sheet of thermoplastic fibers, carbon fibers and wavy carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The mixed fiber sheets are prepared from a slurry of the thermoplastic fibers, carbon fibers, and wavy CNTs such that the wavy CNTs contact the carbon fibers and thermoplastic fibers. Upon irradiation with VFM radiation, the wavy CNTs generate heat and transfer the heat to the thermoplastic fibers, causing melting of the thermoplastic to form the matrix of the CFRTP composite object. The mixed fiber sheets can be combined alone or with other sheets to form laminar composites that are molded into objects and heated by VFM irradiation.

An insulated nanofiber having a continuous nanofiber collection extending along a longitudinal axis with an outside surface and an inside portion is described. A first material infiltrates the inside portion, where the outside surface of the nanofiber collection is substantially free of the first material. An electrically-insulating second material coats the outside surface of the nanofiber collection. A method of making an insulated nanofiber collection is also disclosed.

A plurality of CNTs are drawn out of VACNTs so as to be continuous in lines and are bundled into a thread shape, and a temporary thread bundled into a thread shape is temporarily wound on the first winder. The first winder is then rotated about an axis along a feeding direction of the temporary thread to twist the temporary thread while the temporary thread is fed from the first winder.

A carbon nanotube-resin composite includes: a carbon nanotube assembled wire including a plurality of carbon nanotubes; and a resin, wherein in the carbon nanotube assembled wire, the carbon nanotubes are oriented at a degree of orientation of 0.9 or more and 1 or less.

For example, provided is an RFID-bearing flexible material, in which an RFID is attached to a flexible material, the RFID includes an antenna portion, and the antenna portion is formed of a conductive linear body containing a carbon nanotube yarn.

A nanofiber structure applicator is described that can remove two substrates from opposing major surfaces of a nanofiber structure. The two substrates can have differing adhesive strengths with the nanofiber forest. This difference in adhesive strength can be used to reorient nanofibers that form the nanofiber structure relative to the final surface on which they are applied. This reorienting of the individual nanofibers within a nanofiber structure can be used to tailor some of the properties of the nanofiber structure. Furthermore, the nanofiber structure applicator is configured can improve the convenience with which a nanofiber structure can be transported and applied to an application surface.

A multifunctional smart garment textile is disclosed herein. It comprises plural conductive yarns, wherein each of the plural conductive yarns includes cotton threads, multiwalled carbon nanotubes and iodine-modified polypyrrole, and wherein the cotton threads, the multiwalled carbon nanotubes and the iodine-modified polypyrrole are intermingled with each other in a weight ratio ranging from 1:1:1 to 3:1:1.

Previous electrochemically-powered yarn muscles cannot be usefully operated between extreme negative and extreme positive potentials, since strokes during electron injection and during hole injection partially cancel because they are in the same direction. Unipolar-stroke carbon nanotube yarn muscles are described in which muscle strokes are additive between extreme negative and extreme positive potentials, and stroke increases with potential scan rate. These electrochemical artificial muscles include an electrically conducting twisted or coiled yarn and a material that dramatically shifts the potential of zero charge of the electrochemically actuated yarn.

A method of manufacturing a graphene fiber is provided. The method includes preparing a source solution including graphene oxide, supplying the source solution into a base solution containing a foreign element to form a graphene oxide fiber, separating the graphene fiber from the base solution and cleaning and drying to obtain the graphene oxide fiber containing the foreign element, and performing thermal treatment to the dried graphene oxide fiber containing the foreign element to form a graphene fiber doped with the foreign element. Elongation percentage of the graphene fiber is adjusted by concentration and spinning rate of the source solution.