Conductive carbon nanotube paper by recycling waste paper

Abstract

This paper reports on an easy process of fabricating conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) paper by recycling waste paper. In the absence of a dispersion agent, we just mixed and ground multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and shredded A4 paper together in water. CNT paper was obtained after filtering and rolling the mixture of MWCNT and waste paper. The thickness of the CNT paper was controllable by using different volumes of the mixture in the fabrication. Scanning electron microscope images showed that MWCNT was evenly stuck to the surface of the cellulose. Raman spectra indicated that the structure of a sidewall of MWCNT was influenced by cellulose through the mixing process. In addition, the thermal stability of CNT paper was enhanced in proportion to the amount of MWCNT used. The presence of MWCNT also contributed to the enhancement in the elastic properties of CNT paper. Depending on the amount of MWCNT and the thickness of CNT paper, the sheet resistance of CNT paper varied from 49.1 to 3365.6 Ω sq⁻¹. This CNT paper can be utilized in the fields of electronic devices and energy storage devices, leading to easy mass-production at low cost.