EFFECTS OF CELLULAR MORPHOLOGY ON ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF NANOCOMPOSITE FOAMS CONTAINING CARBON NANOTUBES

摘要

In recent years, carbon nanotubes filled nanocomposite foams have been widely investigated in electrical applications such as Electromagnetic interferences shielding (EMI) and electrostatic dissipation (ESD). Addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) imparts the incident electromagnetic radiation by enhancing the electrical conductivity and foamed nanocomposites CNTs/Polymer can affect the electrical conductivity due to modification of CNTs' dispersion and due to cellular structure. In this work, we aim to establish a relationship between the foam morphology and their electrical conductivity. First, nanocomposites based on Poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and different concentration of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are prepared by melt-mixing in Brabender~R and foamed in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) under varying foaming conditions (pressure, temperature). Then, cell morphology and electrical conductivity are characterized. As a result, their characteristic foam morphologies such as: volume expansion, pore- size, cell-density and cell-wall thickness and CNTs content can be tailored in order to achieve the desired electrically conductive properties.