High strength – High conductivity double-walled carbon nanotube – Copper composite wires

Double-walled carbon nanotube – copper composite macroscopic wires are prepared using a combination of spark plasma sintering and room-temperature wire drawing. The carbon content in the samples is low (0.5 vol.%). Compared to the corresponding pure copper wires, the electrical resistivity at 77 K of the composite wires is increased by only about 12% whereas their ultimate tensile strength at 293 K (560 MPa) and 77 K (710 MPa) is increased by about 10%