Synthesis and Characterization of High Performance Polymer Nanocomposite Using Carbon Nanotubes as Fillers

Abstract

In this work, the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method is used for the production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The catalyst, Fe/MgO, was prepared through sonication technique. It was heated to 600 °C for 6 hours and this was used as the template for growing the CNTs using acetylene as carbon precursor. The deposited CNTs were separated by acid treatment followed by air oxidation. The purified CNTs were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The CNTs were observed to have a multi-wall structure with the diameter in the range of 10–20 nm. These multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as filler material in an epoxy matrix. Sonication technique was used to achieve uniform dispersion of CNTs within the matrix. The CNT/epoxy nanocomposite was cured at a temperature of 100 °C for 3 hours. Tensile strength, flexural strength, fire retardant properties and surface conductivity were studied. The results reveal that addition of MWCNTs to the epoxy promotes substantial improvement to the above mentioned properties.

Performance and Prospects of Severe Plastic Deformation for Effective Biomedical Titanium Alloys

“…The discontinuous process consists of two pairs of pressing dies ( Figure 7b); one pair of dies is for corrugation and the other for straightening. Different corrugating die surface profiles that have been reported in the literature include; Vgroove, Flat-groove and Semi-circular die [65][66] [67]. Sketches of these dies are presented in Figure 8.…”

“…Thangapandian et al [65] experimented on the effects of semicircular (r =5mm), flat-groove (x=5 mm) and V-groove (x =10 mm: refer to equations 8 and 9) dies on tensile, ductility, hardness and microstructure properties of GP processed Al-Mg alloy sheets, 3mm thick. Results showed that; a semicircular die withstood 15 passes (highest number) without cracking.…”