Polymer Composites with Carbon Nanotubes in Alignment

摘要: Carbon nanotubes are typically considered as molecular-scale tubes of graphitic carbon. Depending on numbers carbon layers, they categorized single-walled and multiwalled (Zhao & Stoddart, 2009). The unique structure provides with extraordinary mechanical electrical properties, e.g., tensile strength up to 63 Gpa (Harris, 2004) theoretically carrying current density 1,000 times higher than copper (Hong Myung, 2007). Nanotubes have been extensively investigated publication over 50,000 (searched from Web Science) in recent ten years, proposed for various applications the fields chemistry, physics, engineering (Feldman et al., 2008; Guldi 2005; Liu 2009; Peng 2008a; Shi, Although very promising a wide variety fields, large-scale individual remain challenging due difficulty control, existence impurities, poor processability (Karousis 2010). In order improve their practical applications, bulk nanotube materials recently attracted increasing attentions, particularly, by formation composites polymers (Moniruzzaman Winey, 2006; Peng, 2008b). Here may provide good mechanical, electrical, thermal while enable them high flexibility, low cost, easy fabrication. Three typical methods, i.e., solution blending, melt situ polymerization, widely explored 2006). Unfortunately, common critical challenge is yet be solved, randomly dispersed polymer matrices (see Figure 1) (Peng, As result, prepared could not fully take advantage exceptional properties nanotubes. For instance, we found that nanotube/poly(methyl methacrylate) composite showed conductivity 10100 MPa 10610-1 S/cm, respectively. Several groups done extensive research trying solve above Karousis 2010; Moniruzzaman Various approaches such use external field (Kimura 2002), stretching (Jin 1998), spin-casting (Safadi fiber spinning (Haggenmueller 2003), electrospinning (Ge 2004),