Effect of Non-Covalent Chemical Modification on the Electrical Conductivity and Tensile Properties of Poly(methyl methacrylate)/Carbon Nanotube Composites

摘要

Non-covalent chemical modification by initiated chemical vapor deposition technique is applied to carbon nanotubes to reduce average agglomerate size of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix and to improve surface interaction between the composite constituents. Carbon nanotube (CNT) surfaces are coated conformally with thin poly-glycidyl methacrylate (PGMA) polymer film and coated nanoparticles are incorporated in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer matrix using solvent casting technique. Conformal PGMA coatings around individual nanotubes were identified by SEM analysis. TEM and optical microscopy analyses show homogeneous composite morphology for composites prepared by using PGMA coated nanotubes. FTIR and XPS analyses show the successful deposition of polymer with high retention of epoxide functionality. PGMA coating of carbon nanotubes exhibits improvement in electrical conductivity and tensile properties of PGMA-CNT/PMMA systems when compared with uncoated nanoparticles.