Flexible carbon paper

Flexible carbon paper of carbon nanotubes are strong, flexible, light and thin sheets of absolutely black color, which consist of only carbon nanotubes compressed without the use of additional binders. The latter is important since this paper, in contrast with competitor products, withstands water or other liquids immersion without any harm to properties or integrity, i.e. the paper can serve as a free-standing electrode in any electrolyte medium. Electrical conductivity of the paper, although not as high as the conductivity of threads and tapes, is quite high and reaches 7×103 Sm/m. The paper is manufactured in a range of thicknesses, from 100 up to 300 µm. The technology does not limit lateral size of the paper sheet while the pilot facilities allow manufacturing of the sheets up to 220 by 220 mm2. Due to the correlation of such characteristics as flexibility, strength and light weight, flexible carbon paper can be used in electrical energy storage devices for the automotive and aviation industries, household electrical appliances. Also promising is the use of such materials as mechanically strong coatings, heat-removing, moisture-resistant coatings, as well as coatings resistant to chemically aggressive media.