Aligned Carbon Nanotube Polymer Composites

Carbon nanotube (CNT) polymer nanocomposites are promising new materials with a unique combination of mechanical and transport properties. As physical properties such as mechanical behavior, dielectric relaxation, thermal and electrical conductivities depend strongly on morphological structures of composites, we illustrate in this study the structure/property relationship in vertically aligned CNT (VACNT)/polymer nanocomposites. We have prepared VACNT/polystyrene composites and characterized their morphologies and properties. We have reported previously the continuous variation of alignment order along the height of CNT, which remain unaltered upon forming composites as revealed by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Nanoindentation shows that both the elastic modulus and hardness vary along the CNT growth direction due to the varying tube density, alignment order and entanglement.