Enhancing dispersion of copper nanowires in melt‐mixed polystyrene composites

Copper nanowire (CuNWs)/polystyrene (PS) composites were prepared by melt mixing using unfunctionalized and functionalized nanowires. Alkanethiols were utilized to modify the surface of CuNWs postsynthesis and enable their dispersion in a polymer melt. Unfunctionalized nanowires decreased the electrical resistivity of PS by nine orders of magnitude with 2.0 vol % Cu, and resulted in composites with a viscoelastic behavior dominated by polymer–polymer networks indicating that electrical percolation occurred without a transition from liquid‐like to solid‐like behavior (i.e., rheological percolation). Results from transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and melt rheology characterization indicated that surface modification of CuNWs contributed to the dispersion of the nanofiller in the polymer matrix. CuNWs functionalized with 1‐octanethiol and 1‐butanethiol produced rheological percolation and a gradual decrease in the electrical resistivity of the PS nanocomposites with increasing concentration of nanowires. Polymer nanocomposites with low concentrations of functionalized nanowires showed lower complex viscosities than pure PS; this was attributed to a plasticizing effect introduced by the alkanethiols. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2064–2078, 2008