Electrical, dielectric and surface wetting properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/nylon-6 nanocomposites

This paper reports that the multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNT)/nylon-6 (PA6) nanocomposites with different MWCNT loadingshave been prepared by a simple melt-compounding method. Theelectrical, dielectric, and surface wetting properties of theCNT/PA6 composites have been studied. The temperature dependence ofthe conductivity of the CNT/PA6 composite with 10.0 wt{\%} CNTloading ($\sigma _{\rm RT} \sim 10^{-4}$ S/cm) are measured, andafterwards a charge-energy-limited tunnelling model (ln $\sigma (T)\sim T^{-1/2})$ is found. With increasing CNT weight percentage from0.0 to 10.0 wt%, the dielectric constant of the CNT/PA6composites enhances and the dielectric loss tangent increases twoorders of magnitude. In addition, water contact angles of theCNT/PA6 composites increase and the composites with CNT loadinglarger than 2.0 wt%even become hydrophobic. The obtainedresults indicate that the electrical and surface properties of thecomposites have been significantly enhanced by the embedded carbonnanotubes.     

Dielectric properties of electrospun titanium compound/polymer composite nanofibres

Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)/tetrabutyl titanate (PVP/ [CH3(CH2)3O]4Ti) composite nanofibres are prepared by elec- trospinning. After calcining parts of composite nanofibres in air at 700 C, petal-like TiO2 nanostructures are obtained. The characterizations of composite nanofibres and TiO2 nanostructures are carried out by a scanning electron micro- scope, an x-ray diffractometer, and an infrared spectrometer. Electrospun nanofibres are pressed into pellets under different pressures in order to explore their dielectric properties. It is found that the dielectric constants decrease with frequency increasing. The dielectric constant of the composite nanofibre pellet increases whereas its dielectric loss tangent decreases due to the doped titanium ions compared with those of pure PVP nanofibre pellets. In addition, it is observed that the dielectric constant of the composite nanofibre pellet decreases with the increase of the pressure applied in pelletization.