Flexible, Aligned carbon nanotube/ polymer electrodes for a lithium-ion battery

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) present a new material for the

construction of electrodes. The large-scale production of

aligned carbon nanotube (ACNT) arrays was first reported

by Dai and co-workers,1

providing an opportunity to develop

highly ordered, high-surface-area electrodes with excellent

electronic and mechanical properties. Although the latter two

attributes are realized in the vertical direction, there is a need

to develop simple methods of making ACNT composites that

are mechanically robust and with sufficient conductivity in

the horizontal direction. Such interconnects would give rise

to a practically useful electrode structure for use in applications such as energy storage,2

actuators,3

and sensors.4