Nickel Nanoparticles Entangled in Carbon Nanotubes: Novel Ink for Nanotube Printing

We report the serendipitous discovery of a rapid and inexpensive method to attach nanoscale magnetic chaperones to carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) become entangled in CNTs after both are dispersed in kerosene by sonication and form conjugates. An externally applied magnetic field manipulates the resulting CNTs-NiNP ink without NiNP separation, allowing us to print an embedded circuit in an elastomeric matrix and fabricate a strain gage and an oil sensor. The new method to print a circuit in a soft material using an NiNP-CNT ink is more rapid and inexpensive than the complex physical and chemical means typically used to magnetize CNTs.