Characterization of electrical and thermal properties of carbon nanotube/epoxy composites Academic Article

abstract

• The electrical and thermal conductivity of pristine, oxidized, and fluorinated single-wall/multi-wall carbon nanotube (CNT) mixtures, dispersed in epoxy, were investigated as a function of CNT concentration. The effect of fabrication parameters, such as stirring rate and degree of epoxy pre-curing, on CNT dispersion was analyzed. The electrical conductivity increased by 10 and 6 orders of magnitude for pristine and oxidized CNT composites, respectively, relative to neat epoxy, while fluorinated CNT composites showed no increase in electrical conductivity. An increase of up to 5.5% was observed in thermal conductivity for pristine CNT composites while oxidized and fluorinated CNTs provide less enhancement in thermal conductivity. A micromechanics model, based on the composite cylinders method, was implemented to study the electrical and thermal conductivity of these composites. Effects in electrical and thermal conduction, such as electron hopping and thermal interface resistance, respectively, were incorporated into the model to accurately simulate the acquired experimental results. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

authors

• Lagoudas, Dimitris

published proceedings

• COMPOSITES PART B-ENGINEERING

author list (cited authors)

• Gardea, F., & Lagoudas, D. C.

citation count

• 166

complete list of authors

• Gardea, Frank||Lagoudas, Dimitris C

publication date

• January 2014

publisher

• Elsevier  Publisher

published in

• n1359-8368ISSN  Journal

keywords

• Carbon Nanotubes
• Electrical Properties
• Nano-structures
• Polymer-matrix Composites (PMCs)
• Thermal Properties

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1016/j.compositesb.2013.08.032

start page

• 611

end page

• 620

volume

• 56

URL

• http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.compositesb.2013.08.032