Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Fibers for Wearable Fiber-Shaped Energy Conversion

Abstract Wearable electronics with a typical fiber-shaped structure attract great attentions due to excellent flexibility and wearable and integrated properties, which enable them to being easily woven or integrated into clothes, bags, and any other textiles. The fiber-shaped electronics can be fabricated by coating active materials and electrodes layer by layer onto fiber substrates or electrodes. However, the traditional metal wire or conducting layer-coated polymeric fibers often suffer from their limited stability and flexibility, resulting in devices with relatively low performance or stability. Recently, the newly emerging carbon nanotube, graphene, and their composite fibers have been considered as ideal candidate fiber electrodes for fiber-shaped wearable electronics because of their high electric conductivity, high mechanical strength, and excellent flexibility and stability. Especially, great achievements have been obtained on the wearable fiber-shaped energy conversion devices, a topic that is summarized in this chapter. Finally, challenges and perspectives of fiber-shaped wearable electronics are also discussed.