Mechanical properties of binder-free single-walled carbon nanotube solids

Abstract Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were successfully solidified without any additives using a spark plasma method. Purification of raw soot was crucially important in order to improve the mechanical properties of the SWCNT solid, which exhibited a significant nonlinear deformation response in contrast with brittle fracture of an unpurified SWCNT solid.