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