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Dynamic electrical properties of polymer-carbon nanotube composites: Enhancement through covalent bonding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2006

Seamus A. Curran ,
Donghui Zhang ,
Wudyalew T. Wondmagegn ,
Amanda V. Ellis ,
Jiri Cech ,
Siegmar Roth  and
David L. Carroll
Seamus A. Curran*
Affiliation:
New Mexico State University, Department of Physics, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-8001
Donghui Zhang
Affiliation:
New Mexico State University, Department of Physics, and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-8001
Wudyalew T. Wondmagegn
Affiliation:
New Mexico State University, Department of Physics, and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-8001
Amanda V. Ellis
Affiliation:
Gracefield Research Centre, Industrial Research Ltd., Lower Hutt 6009, New Zealand
Jiri Cech
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
Siegmar Roth
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart 70569, Germany
David L. Carroll
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Composite formation between carbon nanotubes and polymers can dramatically enhance the electrical and thermal properties of the combined materials. We have prepared a composite from polystyrene and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and, unlike traditional techniques of composite formation, we chose to polymerize styrene from the surface of dithiocarboxylic ester-functionalized MWCNTs to fabricate a unique composite material, a new technique dubbed “gRAFT” polymerization. The thermal stability of the polymer matrix in the covalently linked MWCNT-polystyrene composite is significantly enhanced, as demonstrated by a 15 °C increase of the decomposition temperature than that of the noncovalently linked MWCNT-polystyrene blend. Thin films made from the composite with low MWCNT loadings (<0.9 wt%) are optically transparent, and we see no evidence of aggregation of nanotubes in the thin film or solution. The result from the conductivity measurement as a function of MWCNT loadings suggests two charge transport mechanisms: charge hopping in low MWCNT loadings (0.02–0.6 wt%) and ballistic quantum conduction in high loadings (0.6–0.9 wt%). The composite exhibits dramatically enhanced conductivity up to 33 S m−1 at a low MWCNT loading (0.9 wt%).

Keywords

CompositeElectric propertiesPolymerization
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , April 2006 , pp. 1071 - 1077
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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