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A Novel Concept for Highly Oriented Carbon Nanotube Composite Tapes or Fibres with High Strength and Electrical Conductivity
Author(s) -
Deng Hua,
Zhang Rui,
Reynolds Christopher T.,
Bilotti Emiliano,
Peijs Ton
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.200900151
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , percolation threshold , carbon nanotube , composite number , nanocomposite , electrical conductor , annealing (glass) , polymer , percolation (cognitive psychology) , thermal conductivity , electrical resistivity and conductivity , core (optical fiber) , neuroscience , electrical engineering , biology , engineering
A new concept is described for the creation of multifunctional polymer nanocomposite tapes (or fibres) that combines high stiffness and strength with good electrical properties and a low percolation threshold of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The concept is based on a bicomponent tape (or fibre) construction consisting of a highly oriented polymer core and a conductive polymer composite (CPC) skin based on a polymer with a lower melting temperature than the core, enabling thermal annealing of these skins to improve conductivity through a dynamic percolation process while retaining the properties of the core and hence those of the tape (or fibre). The percolation threshold in the CPC skins of the highly drawn conductive bicomponent tapes could be decreased from 5.3 to 1.1 wt.‐% after annealing.