• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.315-319
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• 2020

In various fields, several studies based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been conducted. The results of previous studies, wherein CNT coatings have been incorporated as solid lubricants, demonstrate that the friction and wear characteristics of CNT coatings can be improved through the absorption/dispersion of the contact pressure by controlling the stiffness of the nanomesh structure comprising CNT strands. In this study, the friction and wear characteristics of the following are compared: CNT coating formed by spin coating of CNT solution, compressed CNT coating, and compressed/heated CNT coating (wherein CNT strands are squeezed through compression and/or heating). It is observed that the friction coefficient of the CNT coating having the largest number of voids between the CNT strands is significantly lower than those of the compressed CNT coating and the compressed/heated CNT coating. The wear tracks of the compressed CNT coating and the compressed/heated CNT coating indicate that some parts become torn or adhere into a lump. However, in the case of the CNT coating, a smooth wear surface is formed by rubbing. Furthermore, as the void space between the squeezed and adhered CNT strands decreases, the resistance to structural deformation increases, thereby resulting in an increased frictional force and a wear pattern that becomes torn or forms a lump. Hence, the results obtained from this study corroborate that the friction and wear characteristics of CNT coatings can be enhanced through the absorption/dispersion of the contact pressure by controlling the stiffness of the nanomesh structure of CNT coatings.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.51-55
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• 2014

Ni-CNT(Carbon Nanotubes) composite coating is often used for the surface treatment of mechanical/electronic devices to improve the properties of the Ni coating. For the Ni-CNT coating, the dispersion of CNT fibers is a critical process. In this study, ultrasonic treatment instead of the conventional ball milling was attempted as a dispersion method for the electroless Ni-CNT coating. SEM-EDX analysis was performed and contact angle, sheet resistance, and micro-hardness were measured. Results showed that the ultrasonic treatment was comparable to the ball milling, as a dispersion method, but the difference was negligible. However, combined ball milling and ultrasonic treatment(double treatment) showed much improved micro-hardness value, above 350Hv(close to the value obtained by the Ni-CNT electroplating). In addition, electroless Ni-CNT(double-treated) coatings formed on the thin Ni film deposited by the electroless plating(double coating) showed better mechanical properties. Thus, double treatment and double coating are suggested as an improved electroless Ni-CNT coating method.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.182-188
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• 2008

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs) have outstanding mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Thus, by placing nanotubes into appropriate matrix, it is postulated that the resulting composites will have enhanced properties. Cold spray can produce thick metal-based composite coatings with very high density, low oxygen content, and phase purity, which leads to excellent physical properties. In this study, we applied cold spray coating process for the consolidation of Cu/CNT composite powder. The precursor powder mixture, in which CNTs were filled into copper particles, was prepared to improve the distribution of the CNT in copper matrix. Pure copper coating was also conducted by cold spraying as a reference. Annealing heat treatment was applied to the coating to examine its effect on the properties of the composite coating. The hardness of Cu/CNT composite coating represented similar value to that of pure copper coating. It was importantly found that the electrical conductivity of the Cu/CNT composite coating significantly increased from 53% for the standard condition to almost 55% in the optimized condition, taking annealed ($500^{\circ}C/1hr$.) copper coating as a reference (100%). The thermal conductivity of Cu/CNT composite coating layer was higher than that of pure Cu coating. It was also found that the electrical and thermal conductivities of Cu/CNT composite could be improved through annealing heat treatment. The microstructural evolution of Cu/CNT coating was also investigated and related to the macroscopic properties.

• Composites Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2011

Transparent and conductive carbon nanotube on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were prepared by dip-coating method for self-sensing multi-functional nanocomposites. The changes in the electrical and optical properties of CNT coating mainly depended on the number of dip-coating, concentration of CNT solution. Consequently, the surface resistance and transmittance of CNT coating were sensitively controlled by the processing parameters. Surface resistance of CNT coating was measured using four-point method, and surface resistance of coated CNT could be better calculated by using the dual configuration method. Optical transmittance of PET film with CNT coating was evaluated using UV spectrum. Surface properties of coated CNT investigated by wettability test via static and dynamic contact angle measurement were consistent with each other. As dip-coating number increased, surface resistance of coated CNT decreased seriously, whereas the transmittance exhibited little lower due to the thicker CNT networks layer. Interfacial microfailure properties were investigated for CNT and indium tin oxide (ITO) coatings on PET substrates by electrical resistance measurement under cyclic loading fatigue test. CNT with high aspect ratio exhibited no change in surface resistance up to 2000 cyclic loading, whereas ITO with brittle nature showed a linear increase of surface resistance up to 1000 cyclic loading and then exhibited the level-off due to reduced electrical contact points based on occurrence of many micro-cracks.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.256-256
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• 2013

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) / polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric composite films for nanogenerator devices were fabricated by spray coating method. When the CNT/PVDF mixture solution passes through the spray nozzle with small diameter by the compressed nitrogen gas, electric charges are generated in the liquid by a triboelectric effect. Then randomly distributed ${\beta}$ phase PVDF film could be re-oriented by the electric field resulting from the accumulated electrical charges, and might be resulted in extremely one-directionally aligned ${\beta}$ phase PVDF film without additional electric field for poling. X-ray diffraction patterns were used to investigate crystal structure of the CNT/PVDF composite films. It was confirmed that they revealed extremely large portion of the ${\beta}$ phase PVDF crystalline in the film. Therefore we could obtain the poled CNT/PVDF piezoelectric composite films by the spray coating method without additional poling process. Charge accumulation and resulting electric field generation mechanism by spray coating method were shown in Fig. 1. The capacitance of the CNT/PVDF films increased by adding CNTs into the PVDF matrix, and finally saturated. However, the I-V curves didn't show any saturation effect in the CNT concentration range of 0~4 wt%. Therefore we can control the performance of the devices fabricated from the CNT/PVDF composite film by adjusting the current level resulted from the CNT concentration with the uniform capacitance value.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.7-11
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• 2005

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which were purified by etching in 25% $H_2SO_4/HNO_3$ solution at $60^{\circ}C$ for 2 h, were modified via plasma polymerization coating of acrylic acid, allylamine or acetylene, and then utilized to prepare PEI/CNT composites. First, plasma polymerization conditions were optimized by measuring the solvent resistance of coatings in THF, chloroform and NMP, and the tensile strength of PEI/CNT (0.5%) composites as a function of plasma power (20~50 W) and monomer pressure (20~50 mTorr). The tensile strength of PEI/CNT composites was further evaluated as a function of CNT loading (0.2, 0.5 and 1%). Finally, FT-IR was utilized to provide a better understanding of the improved tensile properties of PEI/CNT composites via plasma polymerization coating of CNTs. Plasma polymerization of acrylic acid greatly enhanced the tensile strength of PEI/CNT composites, as did allylamine but to a lesser degree, while acetylene plasma polymerization coating decreased tensile strength.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.36-42
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• 2008

Carbon nanotube (CNT) aluminum composite coatings were built up through kinetic spraying process. Deposition behavior of CNT aluminum composite on an aluminum 1050 alloy substrate was analyzed based on deposition mechanism of kinetic spraying. The microstructure of CNT aluminum composite coating were observed and analyzed. Also, the electrical resistivity, bond strength and micro-hardness of the CNT aluminum composite coatings were measured and compared to kinetic sprayed aluminum coatings. The CNT aluminum composite coatings have a dense structure with low porosity. Compared to kinetic sprayed aluminum coating, the CNT aluminum composite coatings present lower electrical resistivity and higher micro-hardness due to high electrical conductivity and dispersion hardening effects of CNTs.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.550-554
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• 2013

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) / polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric composite films for nanogenerator devices were fabricated by spray coating method. When the CNT/PVDF mixture solution passes through the spray nozzle with small diameter by the compressed nitrogen gas, electric charges are generated in the liquid by a triboelectric effect. Then randomly distributed ${\beta}$ phase PVDF film could be re-oriented by the electric field resulting from the accumulated electrical charges, and might be resulted in extremely one-directionally aligned ${\beta}$ phase PVDF film without additional electric field for poling. X-ray diffraction patterns were used to investigate crystal structure of the CNT/PVDF composite films. It was confirmed that they revealed extremely large portion of the ${\beta}$ phase PVDF crystalline in the film. Therefore we could obtain the poled CNT/PVDF piezoelectric composite films by the spray coating method without additional poling process.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.462-466
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• 2015

In this paper, we investigated the relations between dispersion of CNTs (carbon nanotubes) and electrical conductivity in the CNT/PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) composite film. By adding hydrophobic CNTs as filler into the PVDF matrix, we fabricated hydrophobic and electrically conducting polymer coating film. Dispersion of CNTs in the CNT/PVDF composite film plays a significant role in terms of electrical conductivity and wetting property. Spray coating method was used to form the CNT/PVDF composite films by injecting the dispersed CNTs in the PVDF solution with different weight ratios from 0.7 wt% to 7 wt%. We investigated the electrical properties and contact angles of the CNT/PVDF composite films with the CNT concentration. Finally we discussed the conducting mechanism and feasibility of the CNT/PVDF composite film for the conducting polymer films.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.610-617
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• 2008

Multi-walled carbon nanotube(CNT) reinforced hydroxyapatite composite coating with a thickness of $5{\mu}m$ has been successfully deposited on Ti substrate using aerosol deposition(AD). The coating had a dense microstructure with no cracks or pores, showing good adhesion with the Ti substrate. Microstructural observation using field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM) showed that CNTs with original tubular morphology were found in the hydroxyapatite-CNT(HA-CNT) composite coating. Measurements of hardness and elastic modulus for the coating were performed by nanoindentation tests, indicating that the mechanical properties of the coating were remarkably improved by the addition of CNT to HA coating. Therefore, HA-CNT composite coating produced by AD is expected to be potentially applied to the coating for high load bearing implants.