Prediction of electrical properties of carbon nanotube/polymer composites

摘要

In this research,we propose a 3 dimensional(3D)numerical model to predict the electrical properties of insulating polymer filled by carbon nanotubes(CNTs).In this model,with the assumption of randomly distributed CNTs in polymers,the percolation threshold is predicted at the volume fraction of CNTs when a complete conductive pathway connected by some CNTs is built up.Furthermore,a 3D resistor network model for electrical conduction problems of composites is proposed,in which Kirchhoff’s current law is used to build up the system equations at different nodes in the network connected by CNTs,and then Ohm’s law is used to predict the macroscopic electrical conductivity of composites.The influence of curved shape of CNTs on the electrical properties is investigated in detail.Moreover,the experiments are performed.The present experimental results plus some previous experimental results by other researchers are employed to verify the numerical results.Finally,the application of this nano-composite for high sensitive strain sensors is experimentally and theoretically investigated.