Synthesis of Highly Stretchable and Electrically Conductive Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Nanocomposite Films

Abstract

Emulsion-based methods offer a range of advantages for fabrication of polymer nanocomposite materials. Herein, we have explored the use of in situ miniemulsion polymerization as well as a variety of physical mixing methods for preparation of nanocomposite films comprising multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and statistical copolymers based on styrene and n-butyl acrylate. Nanocomposite films were prepared at room temperature via simple drop casting of the obtained nanocomposite latex. It is demonstrated that both the fabrication method and compositional details such as the nature of the surfactant greatly influence the latex stability and the physical properties of the resulting nanocomposite films. Films prepared via miniemulsion polymerization exhibited high stretchability, whereas films produced by physical mixing showed electrical conductivities of approximately 10 2 S m −1 , which lies in the highest range reported to date for such materials via any preparation technique and is the highest ever for emulsion-based techniques within this concentration range of carbon nanotubes. The high electrical conductivity with tuneable mechanical properties shown in this study is envisaged to boost interest in polymer/CNT nanocomposites for different applications.

Nano-dimensional spheres and worms as fillers in polymer nanocomposites: effect of filler morphology

“…It is noteworthy that at the optimum loading of 5 wt%, the crosslinked worm reinforced film exhibited larger improvement in tensile strength compared to the improvement observed in identical films (same polymer matrix and synthesis procedure) reinforced with carbon nanotubes, which is often employed as nanofillers. 37 The nanocomposite films reinforced with carbon nanotubes at 3 wt% loading exhibited a 128% increase in tensile strength compared to the reference film without carbon nanotubes. In the present study, the films reinforced with 5 wt% crosslinked worms exhibited 400% increase in tensile strength compared to the reference film without fillers.…”

Schwann cell-matrix coated PCL-MWCNT multifunctional nanofibrous scaffolds for neural regeneration

“…To visualize glycoproteins, the ACM was stained using alcian blue and safranin O, and to visualize collagen the scaffolds were treated with Mason's trichome and picrosirius red. 32 ACM coated scaffolds are labelled as: R-PCL + ACM, A-PCL + ACM, R-PCL-MWCNT + ACM, and A-PCL-MWCNT + ACM.…”

Maintaining Colloidal Stability of Polymer/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Aqueous Dispersions Produced via In Situ Reduction of Graphene Oxide for the Preparation of Electrically Conductive Coatings

“…Miniemulsion polymerization was employed as a one-pot synthesis strategy to form colloidally stable polymer/GO nanocomposite latexes. , Miniemulsion polymerization proceeds via monomer droplet nucleation with polymerization within submicron-sized monomer droplets dispersed in a continuous aqueous phase, resulting in ideally one-to-one conversion of monomer droplets to the corresponding polymer particles . Using a variety of fillers, we have previously employed miniemulsion polymerization to prepare nanocomposite latexes with filler-decorated polymer nanoparticles. ,− Based on our previous works, we here used a statistical copolymer of styrene and n -butyl acrylate (P­(St- stat-n BA)), which forms highly colloidally stable latexes with an intrinsic ability to undergo film formation at ambient conditions . To achieve ambient temperature film formation, the weight ratio of St and n BA was set at 1:1, which yields a theoretical glass transition temperature ( T g ) of ∼3 °C (calculated using the Fox equation) .…”