Cutting Carbon Nanotube Yarn

Materials made of aligned carbon nanotubes are very tough, which makes them difficult to cut! This video provides a useful tip for cutting our aligned carbon nanotube yarn to a desired length using a sharp razor.
A sharp pair of scissors can also work, so long as the yarn is under tension.
To see more demonstration videos and to learn about our products, visit www.dexmat.com.

[@dtgs4502]

I'm not sure what the term is for cutting strength. How would that compare to trying to cut something like steel?

[@carmel721]

Try ceramic scissors. You can get them at a tackle shop

[@FirstnameLastname-vl9nn]

Can this be used to say, connect long nanofiber threads between two ends of a river channel and cut up a big tanker ship and all it's passengers into little pieces as it passes through? Asking for a friend who's trying to save the world from an alien invasion.

[@narutouzumaki2157]

Cap: i get that reference.

[@larrybird3729]

how much stronger than steel?

[@malik01988]

How is it possible to cut the CNTs if it is stronger than steel????

[@blacknoir2404]

kevlar is stronger than steel yet you can cut a kevlar thread with scissors or poke a hole in aluminum foil with your finger.

[@nerdcuddles7731]

if you had a steel wire of the same size you would be able to cut it more easily from what i have seen

[@Phelan666]

Why not use wire cutters?

[@dexmatinc.2374]

Sharp wire cutters or scissors work, so long as the CNT yarn is in tension.
The source of the difficulty in cutting this material is that the CNT fiber and yarn is easily deformable when you press on it from the side; it can become quite flat without losing much tensile strength or conductivity. This is nice feature in some contexts, because it makes it easier for the fiber to be bent at sharp angles or flexed repeatedly without suffering much bending stress. However, when you try to cut it with scissors, it can flatten out and slide between the blades (unless it is in tension, in which case it cuts fairly easily).
So, depending on how sharp they are, wire cutters may be able to sever the fiber, but in most cases it will just be smashed flat between the blades when they press against one another; this might damage the fiber, but not sever it entirely. Sharp scissors actually work better because (if the filament is in tension) the filament will bend flat around the blades and then actually be torn apart by tensile force as the blades continue to move past one another. A razor pressing a tensioned fiber into a soft surface does something similar: the fiber will be flattened out and then subjected to tensile stress that pulls it apart, especially if the blade is slicing across the fiber.