Improvement of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Carbon Nanotube Composites through Chemical Functionalization

Abstract

Chemically functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were incorporated into a polymer matrix by in situ polymerization, to improve the transfer of mechanical load through a chemical bond, which was demonstrated by Raman and infrared spectroscopies. The resulting composite shows higher storage modulus (E‘) and tensile strength than existing similar composites, with only 1 wt % of functionalized nanotubes. E‘ at 90 °C is increased by an outstanding 1135% and the glass transition temperature is exceptionally raised by ≅40 °C.

A review on the role of interface in mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of polymer composites

“…The functional group of the fillers should react with an active group on the polymer chains of the host. One of the suitable methods for chemical bonds formation is the in situ polymerization, where the monomers react with each other and the fillers simultaneously [74][75][76][77][78]. The other way is to modify the host prior to the chemical attachement of the fillers [79].…”

New strategies for the chemical characterization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and their derivatives

“…[7,8] It has been reported in several cases that the modification of the surface of the carbon nanotubes with functional groups can help to disperse them, and may lead to enhancement of mechanical properties and electrical conductivity in different matrices. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] In the case of the preparation of polymer nanocomposites based on carbon nanotubes, various researchers have reported an improvement of the mechanical properties when covalently surfacemodified carbon nanotubes were used. Compared with non-covalently functionalized CNTs, covalently functionalized ones can interact directly with the matrix system as the polymer bound to the CNT can transfer stress directly from the matrix to the CNT structure.…”

Nanofluids Based on Carbon Nanostructures

“…CNTs tend to aggregate into groups due to the large surface energy (strong van der Waals attractions between individual tubes) [32]. Therefore, a variety of approaches has been introduced to decrease the nanotubes agglomeration, namely, the modification of their chemistry through noncovalent adsorption using surfactants [33][34][35][36], covalent (functionalization) by chemical modification [37][38][39][40][41][42], and metal coating (like Ni-coated SWNTs). Table 1 summarizes the work carried out so far dealing with the use of CNTs in nanofluids.…”