Broader applications of carbon nanotubes to real-world problems have largely gone unfulfilled because of difficult material synthesis and laborious processing. We report high-performance multifunctional carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers that combine the specific strength, stiffness, and thermal conductivity of carbon fibers with the specific electrical conductivity of metals. These fibers consist of bulk-grown CNTs and are produced by high-throughput wet spinning, the same process used to produce high-performance industrial fibers. These scalable CNT fibers are positioned for high-value applications, such as aerospace electronics and field emission, and can evolve into engineered materials with broad long-term impact, from consumer electronics to long-range power transmission.O n the molecular level, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have an outstanding combination of mechanical strength and stiffness, electrical and thermal conductivity, and low density, making them ideal multifunctional materials that combine the best properties of polymers, carbon fibers, and metals (1). However, such outstanding properties have remained elusive on a macroscopic scale. Handling CNTs with sufficient length, stiffness, and chemical inertness introduces major challenges in material processing. Here we report lightweight fibers that approach the high specific strength of polymeric and carbon fibers, while also achieving the high specific electrical conductivity of metals and the specific thermal conductivity of graphite fibers.Two distinct routes have been developed for manufacturing neat CNT fibers (2). One route employs a solid-state process wherein CNTs are either directly spun into a fiber from the synthesis reaction zone (3, 4) or from a CNT forest grown on a solid substrate (5). This approach does not lend itself to the typical easy scale-up of chemical processes, as it combines multiple steps into a single one, limiting the options for process and material optimization. Indeed, solidstate fibers have low packing and poor orientation, and include impurities within their structure (6). Despite these shortcomings, solid-state CNT fibers have delivered the best properties so far (3, 4, 7-9). The reason for this relative success is the length of the CNTs that constitute these fibers-1 mm or more (2). Longer CNTs reduce the number of CNT ends in a fiber, yielding greater strength (10) and reducing CNT junctions, which increases electrical and thermal conductivity (11). The alternate fiber production route-wet spinning-was the first method for producing CNT fibers (12). In this process, premade CNTs are dissolved or dispersed in a fluid, extruded out of a spinneret, and coagulated into a solid fiber by extracting the dispersant. Wet spinning is easily scaled to industrial levels and is indeed the route by which highperformance fibers are manufactured (including ballistic fibers such as Kevlar and Twaron and structural fibers such as Toho Tenax and Thornel carbon fibers) (13). Decoupling the synthesis of CNTs from the spinning of the fibers allo...

No abstract

| The discovery and development of novel materials in the field of energy are essential to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Bringing recent technological innovations in automation, robotics and computer science together with current approaches in chemistry , materials synthesis and characterization will act as a catalyst for revolutionizing traditional research and development in both industry and academia. This Perspective provides a vision for an integrated artificial intelligence approach towards autonomous materials discovery , which, in our opinion, will emerge within the next 5 to 10 years. The approach we discuss requires the integration of the following tools, which have already seen substantial development to date: high-throughput virtual screening, automated synthesis planning, automated laboratories and machine learning algorithms. In addition to reducing the time to deployment of new materials by an order of magnitude, this integrated approach is expected to lower the cost associated with the initial discovery. Thus, the price of the final products (for example, solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles) will also decrease. This in turn will enable industries and governments to meet more ambitious targets in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a faster pace. volume 3 | mAY 2018 | 5 PERSPECTIVES

The Ostwald ripening behavior of Fe catalyst films deposited on thin alumina supporting layers is demonstrated as a function of thermal annealing in H2 and H2/H2O. The addition of H2O in super growth of single-walled carbon nanotube carpets is observed to inhibit Ostwald ripening due to the ability of oxygen and hydroxyl species to reduce diffusion rates of catalyst atoms. This work shows the impact of typical carpet growth environments on catalyst film evolution and the role Ostwald ripening may play in the termination of carpet growth.

Mechanical energy harvesters are needed for diverse applications, including self-powered wireless sensors, structural and human health monitoring systems, and the extraction of energy from ocean waves. We report carbon nanotube yarn harvesters that electrochemically convert tensile or torsional mechanical energy into electrical energy without requiring an external bias voltage. Stretching coiled yarns generated 250 watts per kilogram of peak electrical power when cycled up to 30 hertz, as well as up to 41.2 joules per kilogram of electrical energy per mechanical cycle, when normalized to harvester yarn weight. These energy harvesters were used in the ocean to harvest wave energy, combined with thermally driven artificial muscles to convert temperature fluctuations to electrical energy, sewn into textiles for use as self-powered respiration sensors, and used to power a light-emitting diode and to charge a storage capacitor.