The Improvement of Electrical Property of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Plasma Modification and Chemical Oxidation in the Polymer Matrix

We prepared a series of multiwalled carbon nanotube/polymer nanocomposites with two types of tube. One was plasma-modified with maleic anhydride and the other was modified with acid and the same plasma treatment. The morphology of the modified multiwalled carbon nanotube was observed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The surface structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The optimum conductivity of multiwalled carbon nanotube/polymer nanocomposites with specific ratios was of the order of 10−3 S/cm for a total MWCNT content of 2.0 and 2.5 wt%.