Ultra-flexible high-temperature electrically conductive composites based on polybenzimidazole with SWCNTs

Ultra-flexible high-temperature electrically conductive composites based on polybenzimidazole with SWCNTs Full article

Journal

Materials Today Nano
ISSN: 2588-8420

Output data

Year: 2026, Volume: 36, Article number : 100967, Pages count : 12 DOI: 10.1016/j.mtnano.2026.100967

Authors

Kuznetsov V.A. ^1,2 , Kholkhoev B.Ch. ³ , Fedorov A.A. ^1,2 , Larichkin A.Yu. ⁴ , Gapich D.I. ¹ , Ermakov V.A. ¹ , Frolov D.I. ¹ , Fedotov P.V. ^5,6 , Arutyunyan N.R. ^5,6 , Obraztsova E.D. ⁵ , Kuznetsov V.L. ⁷ , Moseenkov S.I. ⁷ , Gerasimov E.Yu. ⁷ , Suprun E.A. ⁷ , Matveev Z.A. ³ , Burdukovskii V.F. ³ , Gudkov M.V. ⁸ , Melnikov V.P. ⁸ , Lavrov A.N. ¹

Affiliations

1	Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
2	Novosibirsk State Technical University
3	Baikal Institute of Nature Management, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
4	Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
5	Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
6	Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
7	Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
8	N.N. Semenov Federal Research Center for Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences

Funding (2)

1		FWUZ-2025-0004
2	Russian Science Foundation

Electrically conductive polymer composites are of great interest due to their remarkable ability to withstand multiple bending and elongation cycles without a corresponding deterioration in their properties. Their usability, however, suffers from a rather narrow operating temperature range, as most polymers become brittle when cooled and soften when heated. Herein, we present electrically conductive composites of polybenzimidazole (OPBI) with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) which remain remarkably flexible even in liquid nitrogen (−196 °C) and exhibit long-term stability at 400 °C, with the storage modulus retaining a high value of 3.2 GPa at 400 °C. The advanced mechanical properties of the composites have been achieved due to the uniform distribution of SWCNTs in the OPBI matrix and their coupling with OPBI macromolecules through π-π interaction. The thermodynamic advantage of swelling and splitting of parent SWCNT bundles under the action of OPBI macromolecules has been demonstrated by molecular modeling and confirmed by the measured UV-vis-IR absorption and photoluminescence spectra as well as peculiarities of the electron transport. An additional unusual feature that the composites inherited from semiconducting SWCNTs is the high sensitivity of their electrical conductivity to absorbed gas molecules. By changing the composition, this sensitivity can be enhanced or suppressed depending on whether this feature is desired or not.

Kuznetsov V.A. , Kholkhoev B.C. , Fedorov A.A. , Larichkin A.Y. , Gapich D.I. , Ermakov V.A. , Frolov D.I. , Fedotov P.V. , Arutyunyan N.R. , Obraztsova E.D. , Kuznetsov V.L. , Moseenkov S.I. , Gerasimov E.Y. , Suprun E.A. , Matveev Z.A. , Burdukovskii V.F. , Gudkov M.V. , Melnikov V.P. , Lavrov A.N.
Ultra-flexible high-temperature electrically conductive composites based on polybenzimidazole with SWCNTs
Materials Today Nano. 2026. V.36. 100967 :1-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.mtnano.2026.100967

Submitted:	Aug 17, 2026
Accepted:	Sep 25, 2026
Published online:	Sep 28, 2026
Published print:	Dec 1, 2026

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