%0 Journal Article
%T A Simple Two-Step Process for Producing Strong and Aligned Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Composites
%J C ¡ª Journal of Carbon Research | An Open Access Journal from MDPI
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.3390/c5030035
%X In this paper, we present the results of a study related to fabrication of polymer-aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) composites made with different thermoplastic polymers. These composites have been manufactured by employing a simple two-step process using the internal resistive heating approach. The resulting composites have shown improved tensile strength, load, and elastic modulus compared to pristine CNT sheets. Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-CNT, Ultem TM-CNT and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)-CNT composites showed an increase in tensile strength by as much as 41%, 77% and 86% respectively over pristine CNT sheets. The improvement in tensile strength is the result of a good adhesion achieved between the aligned CNTs and polymer as observed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). View Full-Tex
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5629/5/3/35