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Functionalized Carbon‐Nanotube Sheet/Bismaleimide Nanocomposites: Mechanical and Electrical Performance Beyond Carbon‐Fiber Composites
Author(s) -
Cheng Qunfeng,
Wang Ben,
Zhang Chuck,
Liang Zhiyong
Publication year - 2010
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.200901957
Subject(s) - materials science , carbon nanotube , composite material , nanocomposite , carbon nanotube actuators , carbon nanotube metal matrix composites , carbon fibers , carbon fiber composite , fiber , composite number , mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes , nanotube
Since their discovery in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been considered as the next‐generation reinforcement materials to potentially replace conventional carbon fibers for producing super‐high‐performance lightweight composites. Herein, it is reported that sheets of millimeter‐long multi‐walled CNTs with stretch alignment and epoxidation functionalization reinforce bismaleimide resin, which results in composites with an unprecedentedly high tensile strength of 3081 MPa and modulus of 350 GPa, well exceeding those of state‐of‐the‐art unidirectional carbon‐fiber‐reinforced composites. The results also provide important experimental evidence of the impact of functionalization and the effect of alignment reported previously on the mechanical performance and electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites.