Processing and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Mat/Epoxy Composites

A carbon nanotube mat (CNT mat) with long (similar to 1 mm) multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was used to process MWCNT/epoxy composites at high concentrations (4.4 and 10.0 wt.%) of MWCNTs by a simple method without the use of a solvent. The CNT mat circumvents several cumbersome processing steps, including the dispersion of CNTs in a solvent. Two different resin-impregnation processing methods were explored. The processing steps were chosen to prepare composite samples based on the performance of the composites and the simplicity of the processing techniques. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the microstructures of the CNT mat and its composites. The mechanical and electrical properties were tested. The tensile strengths of the composites with 10.0 wt.% MWCNTs were increased by 17% to 90% when compared to that of neat epoxy samples. The electrical conductivity of the composite is 36.1 S/cm. 4.4 wt.%-MWCNT composites show very large strain valuesupon fracturing (> 15 %), and their electrical conductivity is 14.9 S/cm. These results show that CNT mat/epoxy composites can be used as flexible electrodes and as a matrix system for advanced fiber composites.