Joining of Carbon Nanotube Fiber by the Meniscus-Confined Electrochemical Deposited Silver

To use carbon nanotube fibers (CNT) extensively in a wide range of electrical and electronic applications, an essential key step is to produce a low-resistance, high-strength and reliable connection between the CNT fibers and other live parts in the circuit. In this study, meniscus-confined electrochemical deposition (ECD) process with silver was proven to be a practical way of joining CNT fibers together head-to-head. The whole ECD process was stable. The shape of the joints was found to depend on the shape of the tips of the CNT fibers. The deposited silver exhibited a dense and uniform microstructure and it was tightly bound to the CNT fibers, with a distinct interface between them. In the ECD process, the original morphology of the CNT network was maintained. The lowest electrical resistance of the CNT fibers joints was measured to be 8.72 Omega, which is 45% lower than that of the original CNT fibers. The deposited joint sustained a fracture load of 7.5cN with an elongation of 0.4%.