Influence of filler alignment in the mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes/epoxy nanocomposites. Physica

MARCOS FELISBERTO; A ARIAS DURAN; J A RAMOS; IÑAKI MONDRAGÓN; ROBERTO CANDAL; SILVIA GOYANES; GERARDO H. RUBIOLO

PHYSICA B - CONDENSED MATTER

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2011 vol. 407 p. 3181 - 3183

0921-4526

In this work, we report the mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes/epoxy composites prepared with aligned and randomly oriented nanotubes as filler. The samples are disks of 30 mm in diameter and 3 mm in thickness. To obtain the carbon nanotubes alignment, an external electric field (250 VAC; 50 Hz) was applied through the thickness of the sample during all the cure process. The AC electrical current was measured, during the cure, as a strategy to determine the optimum time in which the alignment reaches the maximum value. DC conductivity measured after the cure shows a percolation threshold in the filler content one order of magnitude smaller for composites with aligned nanotubes than for composites with randomly oriented filler (from 0.06 to 0.5 wt %). In the percolation threshold, the achieved conductivity was 1.4 x 10-5 Sm-1. In both cases, aligned and randomly distributed carbon nanotube composites, the wear resistance increases with the addition of the filler while the Rockwell hardness decreases independently of the nanotubes alignment. © 2013 Elsevier Science. All rights reserved