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Dramatic Effect of Dispersed Carbon Nanotubes on the Mechanical and Electroconductive Properties of Polymers Derived from Ionic Liquids
Author(s) -
Fukushima Takanori,
Kosaka Atsuko,
Yamamoto Yohei,
Aimiya Takuji,
Notazawa Shunsuke,
Takigawa Toshikazu,
Inabe Tamotsu,
Aida Takuzo
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.200500404
Subject(s) - materials science , carbon nanotube , polymer , conductivity , ionic liquid , methacrylate , monomer , ionic bonding , ionic conductivity , composite material , chemical engineering , fabrication , polymerization , polymer chemistry , ion , electrode , organic chemistry , chemistry , engineering , electrolyte , catalysis , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Free‐radical polymerization of an imidazolium ion‐based ionic liquid bearing a methacrylate group, gelling with single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), allows fabrication of a mechanically reinforced, electroconductive soft material (bucky plastic). A film sample of this material displays an excellent conductivity of 1 S cm −1 and a 120‐fold enhancement of the Young’s modulus at a 7 wt % content of SWNTs. The conductivity is temperature‐dependent in the range 5–300 K, suggesting that the conductive process involves carrier hopping. Scanning electron and atomic force micrographs of a bucky plastic film display the presence of crosslinked networks consisting of finely dispersed SWNTs. Such nanotube networks, developed in the polymer matrix, likely suppress slipping of entrapped polymer molecules via a strong interfacial interaction and also facilitate intertubular carrier transport. Although a bucky plastic derived from a vinylimidazolium ion‐based ionic liquid monomer shows a comparable conductivity to that of the methacrylate version, the film is brittle irrespective of the presence or absence of SWNTs.