Experimental Study and Analysis of Defragmented Carbon Nanotubes in Polyacrylonitrile Matrix

The aim of this research is to elucidate the change in electrical properties of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer when reinforced with defragmented multiwall carbon nanotubes. In conventional chopped fiber-reinforced polymer composites, uniform distributions of fibers throughout the matrix are critical for producing materials with superior physical and electrical properties. The previous methods have dispersed carbon nanotubes by aggressive chemical modification of the nanotubes or by the use of a surfactant prior to dispersion. Here, ultrasonic energy was used to uniformly disperse and defragment the multiwall nanotubes (MWNTs) in solutions and to incorporate them into composites without chemical pretreatment. A common solvent dimethylformamide (DMF) is used for the dissolution process. The film is formed by solvent casting method which involves evaporation of the homogeneous solution of CNT and polymer. Electrical characteristic studies were done on the film samples. The electrical properties such as conductivity and resistivities were found and compared to the original polymer matrix.