• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.434-439
• /
• 2012

To improve the performance of ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators, Nafion films sandwiched with Nafion/conducting nanoparticulate electrospun webs were used as polymer electrolytes of IPMC. Multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) and silver were the conducting nanoparticulates and the nanoparticles dispersed in a Nafion solution were electrospun. IPMCs with the Nafion/conducting nanoparticulate electrospun webs displayed improved displacements, response rates, and blocking forces. MWNT was superior to silver in terms of displacement and blocking force, and the webs without the conducting fillers also caused enhanced performances compared with the conventional IPMCs. These improvements were attributed to an elevated electrolyte flux through highly porous interlayers and capacitance induced by well dispersed conducting fillers, and low interfacial resistance between electrolyte and electrodes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.89-94
• /
• 2014

The high Young's modulus and tensile strength of carbon nanotubes has attracted great attention from the research community given the potential for developing super-strong, super-stiff composites with carbon nanotube reinforcements. Over the decades, the strength and stiffness of carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer nanocomposites have been researched extensively. However, unfortunately, such strong composite materials have not been developed yet. It has been reported that the efficiency of load transfer in such systems is critically dependent on the quality of adhesion between the nanotubes and the polymer chains. In addition, the waviness and orientation of the nanotubes embedded in a matrix reduce the reinforcement effectiveness. In this study, we carried out performed micromechanics-based numerical modeling and analysis by varying the geometry of carbon nanotubes including their aspect ratio, orientation, and waviness. The results of this analysis allow for a better understanding of the load transfer capabilities of carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer composites.

• Polymer Science and Technology
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.4-7
• /
• 2007

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.501-514
• /
• 2018

The paper presents the thermo-mechanically induced non-linear response of multiwall carbon nanotube reinforced laminated composite beam (MWCNTRCB) supported by elastic foundation using higher order shear deformation theory and von-Karman non-linear kinematics. The elastic properties of MWCNT reinforced composites are evaluated using Halpin-Tsai model by considering MWCNT reinforced polymer matrix as new matrix by dispersing in it and then reinforced with E-glass fiber in an orthotropic manner. The laminated beam is supported by Pasternak elastic foundation with Winkler cubic nonlinearity. A generalized static analysis is formulated using finite element method (FEM) through principle of minimum potential energy approach.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.104-110
• /
• 2010

The characteristics of all polymer composites containing carbon materials are determined by four factors: component properties, composition, structure and interfacial interactions. The most important filler characteristics are particle size, size distribution, specific surface area and particle shape. As a consequence, in this paper we discuss the aspects of the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of composites with different fillers of carbon black, carbon nanotube (CNT), graphene and graphite and focus on the relationship between factors and properties, as mentioned above. Accordingly, we fabricate rubber composites that contain various carbon materials in carbon black-based and silica based-SBR matrixes with dual phase fillers and use scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, a rhometer, an Instron tensile machine, and a thermal conductivity analyzer to evaluate composites' mechanical, fatigue, thermal, and electronic properties. In mechanical properties, hardness and 300%-modulus of graphene-composite are sharply increased in all cases due to the larger specific surface. Also, it has been found that the thermal conductivity of the CNT-composite is higher than that of any of the other composites and that the composite with graphene has the best electrical properties.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.135-143
• /
• 2022

The object of this paper is to investigate the free vibration behavior under the effect of carbon nanotube distribution in functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) by using higher-order shear deformation theories. In this work, we present a novel distribution method for carbon nanotubes in the polymer matrix by using a new exponential power law distribution of carbon nanotube volume fraction. It is assumed that the SWCNTs are aligned along the beam axial direction and the distribution of the SWCNTs may vary through the thickness of the beam with different patterns of reinforcement. The rule of mixtures is used in order to obtain material properties of the CNTRC beams. Hamilton's principle is used in deriving the equations of motion. The validity of the free Vibration results is examined by comparing them with those of the known data in the literature. The results that obtained indicate that the carbon nanotube volume fraction distribution play a very important role on the free vibrations characteristics of the CNTRC beam.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.42-45
• /
• 2003

Nondestructive damage sensing and mechanical properties for acid-treated carbon nanotube (CNT) and nanofiber (CNF)/epoxy composites were investigated using electro-micromechanical technique and acoustic emission (AE). Carbon black (CB) was used to compare to CNT and CNF. The results were compared to the untreated case. The fracture of carbon fiber was detected by nondestructive acoustic emission (AE) relating to electrical resistivity under double-matrix composites test. Sensing for fiber tension was performed by electro-pullout test under uniform cyclic strain. The sensitivity for fiber damage such as fiber fracture and fiber tension was the highest for CNT/epoxy composites. Reinforcing effect of CNT obtained from apparent modulus measurement was the highest in the same content. For surface treatment case, the damage sensitivity and reinforcing effect were higher than those of the untreated case. The results obtained from sensing fiber damage were correlated with the morphological observation of nano-scale structure using FE-SEM. The information on fiber damage and matrix deformation and reinforcing effect of carbon nanocomposites could be obtained from electrical resistivity measurement as a new concept of nondestructive evaluation.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2007.08a
• /
• pp.778-781
• /
• 2007

The dispersion of carbon nanotubes in composite and their field emission superiority have been discussed. Four synthesis methods have been studied. The CNT-composite, synthesized by the combination of the chemical and mechanical dispersion routes shows superior dispersion as well as field emission characteristics as compared to other syntheses methods.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.269-275
• /
• 2016

Multiscale hybrid composites, which consist of polymeric resins, microscale fibers and nanoscale reinforcements, have drawn significant attention in the field of advanced, high-performance materials. Despite their advantages, multiscale hybrid composites show challenges associated with nanomaterial dispersion, viscosity, interfacial bonding and load transfer, and orientation control. In this paper, carbon nanotube(CNT)/carbon fiber(CF)/polycarbonate(PC) multiscale hybrid composite were fabricated by a solution process to overcome the difficulties associated with controlling the melt viscosity of thermoplastic resins. The dependence of CNT loading was studied by varying the method to add CNTs, i.e., impregnation of CF with CNT/PC/solvent solution and impregnation of CNT-coated CF with PC/solvent solution. In addition, hybrid composites were fabricated through surfactant-aided CNT dispersion followed by vacuum filtration. The morphologies of the surfaces of hybrid composites, as analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, revealed the quality of PC impregnation depends on the processing method. Dynamic mechanical analysis was performed to evaluate their mechanical performance. It was analyzed that if the position of the value of tan ${\delta}$ is closer to the ideal line, the adhesion between polymer and carbon fiber is stronger. The effect of mechanical interlocking has a great influence on the dynamic mechanical properties of the composites with CNT-coated CF, which indicates that coating CF with CNTs is a suitable method to fabricate CNT/CF/PC hybrid composites.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.165-168
• /
• 2017

Coiled polymer actuators fabricated by twisting polymer fishing lines or sewing threads respond to heating and cooling with their contraction and relaxation. However, their actuation speed is highly dependent on the heating and cooling rates. In order to improve the actuation speed, the coiled polymer actuator was coated with polydimethylsiloxane composites. The introduction of multi-walled carbon nanotubes into the polydimethylsiloxane improved the actuation speed by about 13%.