AVS 50th International Symposium
    Nanotubes Thursday Sessions
       Session NT-ThM

Invited Paper NT-ThM7
Novel Approaches to Developing Carbon Nanotube Based Polymer Composites

Thursday, November 6, 2003, 10:20 am, Room 317

Session: Nanotube Growth and Processing
Presenter: P.M. Ajayan, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Authors: N. Raravikar, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
G. Viswanathan, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
N. Chakrapani, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
C.Y. Ryu, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
P.M. Ajayan, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Correspondent: Click to Email
Polymer-carbon nanotube composites combine the unique properties of nanotubes with the ease of processability of polymers. Alignment of nanotubes, the nanotube-matrix interface and the dispersion of nanotubes are issues critical to successful applications. Infiltration of polymer into pre-aligned arrays of nanotubes provides simultaneous control over the degree of alignment as well as the dispersion of nanotubes. The infiltration is achieved by introduction of the monomer and subsequent polymerization into a pre-aligned array of multi-walled carbon nanotubes grown by chemical vapor deposition technique. The resultant composites show better hardness and thermal stability compared to the parent polymer, and can have applications as thermo-mechanically strong, antistatic polymeric coatings. Especially for application as structural reinforcements, a good interface between the nanotubes and the host matrix should exist for efficient load-transfer. We have also developed a novel route for grafting polystyrene chains onto single-walled nanotubes to obtain homogeneous, well-dispersed composites, using an anionic polymerization scheme. The mechanism of functionalization and the enhancement of interfacial properties studied using thermal analysis and spectroscopic techniques will be discussed.