A Study on the Thermal and Chemical Properties of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Nanocomposite in Power Cables

The use of the carbon nanotube (CNT) is superior to the general powder state materials in their thermal and chemical properties. Because its ratio of diameter to length (aspect ratio) is very large, it is known to be a type of ideal nano-reinforcement material. Based on this advantage, the existing carbon black of the semiconductive shield materials used in power cables can acquire excellent properties by the use of a small amount of CNTs. Therefore, we fabricated specimens using a solution mixing method. We investigated the thermal properties of the CNT, such as its storage modulus, loss modulus, and its tan delta using a dynamic mechanical analysis 2980. We found that a high thermal resistance level is demonstrated by using a small amount of CNTs. We also investigated the chemical properties of the CNT, such as the oxidation reaction by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) made by Travel IR. In the case of the FT-IR tests, we searched for some degree of oxidation by detecting the carboxyl group (C=O). The results confirm a tendency for a high cross-linking density in a new network in which the CNTs situated between the carbon black constituent molecules show a bond using similar constructive properties.