Mechanical and electrical properties of polycarbonate nanotube buckypaper composite sheets

Abstract

The thermogravimetric, mechanical, and electrical properties of composite sheets produced by infiltrating single-wall carbon nanotube films (also known as 'buckypapers') with polycarbonate solution were characterized. The composite sheets showed improved stiffness and toughness, while the electrical conductivity decreased, as compared to a neat buckypaper. In addition, polycarbonate/buckypaper composite sheets showed higher resistance to handling and processing damages. Experimental results suggest the viability of the infiltration process as a means to toughen buckypapers and to fabricate polymer/carbon nanotube composites having high nanotube concentration and controlled nanotube structure.

In situ strain monitoring of fiber-reinforced polymers using embedded piezoresistive nanocomposites

“…Since four different film thicknesses are explored, instead of comparing the absolute resistance values, the percent change in resistance before and after epoxy infusion is calculated and tabulated in the first row of Table 1. As can be seen from the first row of Table 1, the infusion of epoxy causes the bulk resistance of the films to increase, as has also been observed by other researchers [40,41]. In particular, the increase in resistance is inversely related to film thickness; 29 bilayer films increase their resistance by an average of 148.7%, whereas the 150 bilayer sample set increases only 28.3% (Table 1).…”

“…In particular, the increase in resistance is inversely related to film thickness; 29 bilayer films increase their resistance by an average of 148.7%, whereas the 150 bilayer sample set increases only 28.3% (Table 1). Pham et al [40] have also reported similar findings during their study of infusing buckypapers of various thicknesses with polycarbonate.…”

Carbon nanotube buckypaper reinforced polymer composites: a review

“…These improvements were compared to neat BPs prepared by the authors. Similar results were found by Pham et al [58] in a study of BP/polycarbonate composites, since the Young modulus and tensile strength increased by about 120 and 200%, respectively. Also, the mechanical properties of BP/polymer composites can be highly influenced by the processing technique employed during the consolidation of the material.…”

“…Consequently, this material is used in diverse applications such as artificial muscles [53] , electrodes [54] , field-emission [55] , fire shields [56] , and for water purification [57] . Also, BPs can be used to prepare polymer composites with uniform tube dispersion, controlled nanostructure and high CNT loading (up to 60 wt%) [58] .…”

“…The incorporation of buckypapers into polymer matrices offers an attractive route to minimize aforementioned issues. As studied by several researches the electrical conductivity of BPs prepared by vacuum filtration process is in the range of 50-6000 S/m [58,59,75,83] . In a recent work Han et al [83] measured electrical conductivity of BP/epoxy composites as high as 2000 S/m.…”