Mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of polymer nanocomposites reinforced with multiwalled carbon nanotubes

Semiconducting layers are thin rubber film between electrical cable wire and insulating polymer layers having a volume resistivity of similar to 10(2) Omega cm. Commercial semiconducting layers are composed of polymer composites reinforced with more than 30 wt% of carbon blacks. A new semiconducting material was suggested in this study based on the carbon nanotube(CNT) -reinforced polymer nanocomposites. CNT-reinforced polymer nanocomposites were prepared by solution mixing and precipitation with various polymer type and dual filler system. The mechanical, thermal and electrical properties were investigated as a function of polymer type and dual filler system based on CNT and carbon black. The volume resistivity of composites was strongly related with the crystallinity of polymer matrix. With the decreased crystallinity, the volume resistivity decreased linearly until a critical. point, and it remained constant with further decreasing the crystallinity. Dual filler system also affected the volume resistivity. The CNT-reinforced nanocomposite showed the lowest volume resistivity. When a small amount of carbon black (CB) was replaced the CNT, the crystallinity increased considerably leading to a higher volume resistivity.