Thermal and Mechanical Behavior of Carbon-Nanotube-Filled Latex

✍ Scribed by Jaime C. Grunlan; Yeon-Seok Kim; Saeed Ziaee; Xin Wei; Beckry Abdel-Magid; Kun Tao

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 256 KB
• Volume: 291
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1438-7492
• DOI: 10.1002/mame.200600191

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Summary: Composite films were prepared from a mixture of poly(vinyl acetate) latex and SWNTs. SEM images reveal a segregated SWNT network that grows heavier with increasing concentration. Nanotube segregation is the result of excluded volume created by the much larger polymer particles in the latex. Thermal conductivity exhibits a sharp rise with increasing quantity of nanotubes, although the maximum value is only 10% greater than that of the polymer matrix due to large thermal interface resistance. Storage modulus exhibits a peak and subsequent drop due to pore formation. In the absence of porosity, the Halpin‐Tsai model accurately predicts the composite modulus at 25 °C. The segregated network improves the composite modulus above T~g~ by nearly an order of magnitude with only 2 wt.‐% SWNT.

Schematic illustration of a segregated network of carbon nanotubes.

magnified imageSchematic illustration of a segregated network of carbon nanotubes.