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Sensitivity of Carbon Nanotubes to the Storage of Stress in Polymers
Author(s) -
Mercader Célia,
Jaillet Christèle,
Lachman Noa,
Zakri Cécile,
Maugey Maryse,
Wagner Hanoch Daniel,
Poulin Philippe
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201100577
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , materials science , polymer , stress relaxation , stress (linguistics) , nanosensor , residual stress , composite material , nanotechnology , raman spectroscopy , shrinkage , relaxation (psychology) , creep , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , linguistics , physics , optics
Residual stress in polymers arises from the freezing of unstable molecular conformations. Residual stress is critical because its relaxation can cause shrinkage, defects, and fractures of polymer materials. The storage of stress is purposely enhanced to develop shape memory materials. Unfortunately, the storage of mechanical stress is still poorly controlled and understood. An approach to sense the storage of stress based on the spectroscopic response of carbon nanotubes is explored. The Raman response of nanotubes exhibits a variable sensitivity to strain when embedded in polymers that have experienced different thermal and mechanical treatments. This unique feature opens up new possibilities for the use of carbon nanotubes as mechanical nanosensors.