A Simple Two-Step Process for Producing Strong and Aligned Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Composites

Abstract

In this paper, we present the results of a study related to fabrication of polymer-aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) composites made with different thermoplastic polymers. These composites have been manufactured by employing a simple two-step process using the internal resistive heating approach. The resulting composites have shown improved tensile strength, load, and elastic modulus compared to pristine CNT sheets. Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-CNT, UltemTM-CNT and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)-CNT composites showed an increase in tensile strength by as much as 41%, 77% and 86% respectively over pristine CNT sheets. The improvement in tensile strength is the result of a good adhesion achieved between the aligned CNTs and polymer as observed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).