Carbon nanotubes dispersed polymer nanocomposites: mechanical, electrical, thermal properties and surface morphology

Abstract

The various properties and surface morphology of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) matrix were studied to determine their usefulness in various applications. The tensile strength, Young's modulus and electrical breakdown strength of CNT/polymer composites were 0.35 MPa, 1.2 MPa and 8.1 kV, respectively. The thermal conductivity and dielectric constant for the material having 4.28 wt% CNT were 0.225 W m −1 K −1 and 2.329, respectively. The CNT/polymer composites are promising functional composites with improved mechanical and electrical properties. The scanning electron microscope analysis of surface morphology of PDMS/CNT composite showed that the rough surface texture on nanocomposite has large surface area with circular pores. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed the functional groups present in polymer nanocomposite.

Fabrication, Functionalization, and Application of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Polymer Composite: An Overview

“…Similarly, research conducted by Gardea and Lagoudas (2014) [ 141 ] on CNT/epoxy composites reported that the addition of CNTs into epoxy increased thermal conductivity up to 5.5%, and electrical conductivity improved by 10 orders of magnitude compared to pristine CNT/epoxy composites. Sankar et al (2016) [ 142 ] observed an increment for tensile strength and Young’s modulus of 0.35 and 1.2 MPa, respectively, with the addition of 0.3 g of MWCNTs into an epoxy composite. Even with a small-quantity addition to polymeric composites, CNTs brought a positive contribution to the properties of mechanical strength and Young’s modulus compared with other high-performance synthetic fibers such as carbon fiber and Kevlar [ 143 ].…”

Nanocarbon Reinforced Rubber Nanocomposites: Detailed Insights about Mechanical, Dynamical Mechanical Properties, Payne, and Mullin Effects

“…Despite several advantages, the vulcanized neat silicone rubbers usually have poor mechanical properties and low thermal/electrical conductivity restricting its use in many industrial applications. Therefore, silicon rubber filled with carbon based nanofillers have been reported [ 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 , 142 , 143 , 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 ]. Room temperature vulcanized (RTV) vulcanizates on adding 2 phr of CNTs increased the Young’s modulus by 272% and reached as high as ~706% at 8 phr [ 116 ].…”

Investigation of thermal and dielectric properties of Fe3O4/high-density polyethylene nanocomposites

“…Results of these works have been confirmed that dielectric properties improvement can be occurred in polymer nanocomposites compared to the results acquired from pure polymer and polymer microcomposite. 27,28 Nelson and Ma reported nano-TiO 2 filled polyethylene and epoxy composites shown an increasement in dielectric strength and a reduction in space change compared to polyethylene and epoxy in which filled with micron size TiO 2 , respectively. 29,30 Furthermore, the crystallization studies of HDPE with nanofillers have been reported by several researches.…”