AUTHORS: Rodney Andrews (1), John Anthony (2), Robert G. Bergosh (2), Chad Landis(2), Mark S. Meier(2), Terry Rantell (1)
(1 & 2) Advanced Carbon Materials Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
(1) Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
(2) Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0055
Harnessing the unique physical properties of MWNTs in materials applications is yet to be fully realized. In recent work at CAER, MWNT have been dispersed in polymer and pitch matrices by using ultrasonics to disperse MWNT into solutions. However, this approach, although providing valuable information on methods for realizing the remarkable properties of the MWNT, is not readily transferable to industrial practice. A more practical method of producing MWNT composites is by shear mixing followed by extrusion or injection molding. The dispersion of nanotubes into polymers and pitch matrices utilizing traditional polymer processing technologies will be discussed. Sufficient dispersion is found to be the key in realizing the potential of these unique nano-reinforcements. The effect of composite form, nanotube alignment, and functionalization of the nanotube surface for improved adhesion will be discussed in relation to the effect on composite properties.