Characterizing Joule Heating Effects on Single Suspended Carbon Fibers: Calculating the Temperature Coefficient of Resistance for Localized Carbon Nanotube Growth

Abstract

This work investigates the impact of Joule heating (JH) on single suspended carbon fibers (CFs) and their role in facilitating the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the surface of the fiber. The key innovation lies in identifying specific temperature thresholds linked to observable phenomena on the CFs during Joule heating. These observations allowed us to make reasonable estimations, in real time, of the temperatures on the CFs. Our method was validated by using the obtained temperature information to grow CNTs localized to the surface of a single suspended CF. Raman analysis confirms improved structural quality after JH, and the resulting hybrid CNTs/CF exhibit an increased maximum electrical conductivity of 476 S/cm, demonstrating the potential applications of this technique in the development of high-performance carbon devices.