Transition of electrical conductivity in carbon nanotube/silver particle composite buckypapers

The electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube buckypapers can be dramatically increased by incorporation of silver particles contained in a commercial silver paste.Two methods,co-dispersion during the production of buckypaper and surface coating on a preformed buckypaper,were used to prepare composite buckypapers.The two types of composite buckypapers exhibited very different electrical conductivity profiles.The composite buckypapers prepared by the surface coating method showed a distinct step transition in electrical conductivity at 3 vol%silver content,leading to a 15-fold improvement at 6%silver content.The composite buckypapers prepared by the co-dispersion method showed a gradual change in electrical conductivity with increasing silver particle content,resulting in a five-fold improvement at12%silver content.Surface and sectional morphologies of the two types of composite buckypapers were examined and related to their electrical conductivity profiles.