Microstructure and Performance of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube/m-Aramid Composite Films as Electric Heating Elements

Abstract

We report microstructure of thermomechanically stable multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide) (m-aramid) composite films containing 0.0-10.0 wt % MWCNTs and their performance as electric heating elements. FE-SEM images show that the MWCNTs are well dispersed in the composite films and are wrapped with m-aramid chains and that the interfacial thickness of m-aramid wrapped MWCNTs decreases with the MWCNT content. The electrical resistivity of films varies from ∼10(13) Ω cm for the neat m-aramid to ∼10(0) Ω cm of the film with 10.0 wt % MWCNT owing to the formation of a conductive three-dimensional network of MWCNTs. Accordingly, the performance of MWCNT/m-aramid films as electric heating elements is strongly dependent on MWCNT content as well as applied voltage. For the composite film with 10.0 wt % MWCNT, a maximum temperature of ∼176 °C is attained even at a low applied voltage of 10 V. The excellent performance such as rapid temperature response and high electric power efficiency at given applied voltages is found to be related with the microstructural features of the MWCNT/m-aramid films.

Synergetic effects of carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers on electrical and self-heating properties of high-density polyethylene composites

“…That is to say, composite films with hybrid fillers have much quicker electrical heating response than that with sole filler at a certain applied voltage. Comparing with the reported literatures [17,18], the s g in the present study is higher, which is attributed to the different size of the sample. The size of sample is about 140 mm in length and 70 mm in width in the present study, which is larger than that (about 40.0 mm in length and 10.0 mm in width) in the literatures [17].…”

“…Self-heating or electrical heating material is one of many applications for CPCs [17,18]. Heating is required in numerous industrial and commercial applications, such as deicing of aircraft driveway, the space heating, and plane heater.…”

“…Therefore, polymer composites containing carbonaceous fillers have attract interest for preparing self-heating or electrical heating materials due to their light weight, corrosion resistance, cleanness, easy processing, and cost-effective manufacturing [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Many researchers [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] have investigated the self-heating behaviors or electrical heating properties of composites with sole conductive filler. Chung reported that the interlaminar interface between continuous carbon fiber laminae provides a two-dimensional array of heating elements; the maximum temperature can be up to 134°C when power up to 6.5 W [23].…”

“…Chung reported that the interlaminar interface between continuous carbon fiber laminae provides a two-dimensional array of heating elements; the maximum temperature can be up to 134°C when power up to 6.5 W [23]. Jeong et al [18] investigated the performance of multiwall carbon nanotube/m-aramid composite films as electric heating materials, and a maximum temperature reached *176°C even at a low applied voltage of 10 V. A few works [12,27] studied the composites filled with different conductive fillers to consider the synergetic effect. Jeong et al [12] reported electric heating films based on m-aramid nanocomposites containing hybrid fillers of graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNT).…”

Developing highly conducting and mechanically durable styrene butadiene rubber composites with tailored microstructural properties by a green approach using ionic liquid modified MWCNTs

“…From this study we got an average value about 3.62 which shows that ionic liquid modied MWCNT forms a quasi-network structure near percolation threshold. 30 This low value of p c is due to the uniform dispersion of MWCNT with the aid of ionic liquid in SBR. In SBR composites with higher MWCNT contents, MWCNT are more densely dispersed in the polymer matrix and the interfacial thickness of polymer wrapped MWCNT are also even thinner, which facilitates the electron tunnelling among MWCNT for the efficient electrical conduction.…”