Nanoinfiltration behavior of carbon nanotube based nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical and electrical properties

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2020.07.015

Abstract

Abstract:

In this work, carbon nanotube (CNT) based nanocomposites with high mass fraction are proposed by in-situ bridging carbon matrix into CNT paper through optimized chemical vapor infiltration (CVI). Nanoinfiltration behavior of CNTs is basically investigated under the CVI process. The contact between each CNT can be strengthened and the conductive pathways can be established, resulting in the better mechanical and electrical properties. Compared with the pristine CNT paper, the CNT/C composite after pyrolysis process confirms a remarkable advance in tensile strength (up to 310 ± 13 MPa) and Young's modulus (up to 2.4 ± 0.1 GPa). Besides, a notable feature of electrical conductivity also shows an improvement up to 8.5 S/cm, which can be attributed to the mass fraction of CNT (41 wt%) breaking the limits of percolation thresholds and the efficient densification of this sample to establish the conductive pathways. This study has a broad application in the development of the multi-functional electrical and engineering materials.

Key words: Carbon nanotube, Chemical vapor infiltration (CVI), Nanocomposites

Mengmeng Wang, Jinshan Yang, Xiao You, Chunjing Liao, Jingyi Yan, Jing Ruan, Shaoming Dong. Nanoinfiltration behavior of carbon nanotube based nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical and electrical properties[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 71: 23-30.

Figures/Tables 9

Fig. 1. Surface images of CNT/C composite with different infiltration time: (a) 0 min, (b) 30 min, (c) 60 min, (d) 90 min, (e) 180 min, (f) 360 min.

Fig. 2. Cross-sectional microstructures of CNT paper and CNT/C composites: (a) 0 min, (b) 30 min, (c) 60 min, (d) 90 min, (e) 180 min, (f) 360 min.

Fig. 3. TEM images of CNT paper and CNT/C composite of different infiltration time: (a, b) 0 min, (c, d) 30 min, (e, f) 90 min, (g, h) 360 min.

Fig. 4. (a) Raman spectra of samples with infiltration time of 0 min and 30 min, (b) ID/IG of samples with infiltration time of 0 min and 30 min, (c) Raman spectra of samples with different infiltration time, (d) ID/IG of samples with different infiltration time.

Fig. 5. (a) Engineering stress-strain curves, (b) Young’s modulus and tenslie strength of the CNT and the CNT/ C composite of different pyrolysis carbon content, Cross-sectional microstructures of CNT paper and CNT/C composite of different infiltration time: (c) 0 min, (d) 30 min, (e) 60 min, (f) 90 min, (g) 180 min, (h) 360 min.

Fig. 6. Fracture morphologies of CNT/C composites: (a) 0 min, (b) 30 min, (c) 60 min, (d) 90 min, (e) 180 min, (f) 360 min.

Fig. 7. (a) The conductivity and (b) the changing trend of ID/IG, of pristine CNT paper and CNT/C composites with different infiltration time.

Table 1 Relation of infiltration time and weight gain percentage of carbon matrix.

Infiltration time (min)	Weight gain percentage (%)	Mass fraction of CNT (%)
0	0	100 %
30	48.1	67.50 %
60	95.5	51.10 %
90	144.4	41 %
180	247.8	28.80 %
360	338.9	22.80 %

Table 2 Comparison table of the mechanical and electrical properties of CNT/C materials.

	Sample name	Experimental method	Tensile strength (MPa)	Young's modulus (increased ratio)	Electrical conductivity (increased ratio)	Reference
1	CNT/C composite	CVI	310	26.45	1.73	this work
2	CNT fiber/C composite	floating catalyst CVD	205	93.3	3.53	[42]
3	CNT/C composite fiber	CVI	1700	5.08	\	[32]
4	CNT/C composite	CVD	460.2	3	4.87	[43]
5	CNT/C composite film	PIP	220	7	3	[44]
6	CNT/C yarn	CVI	159	\	1.18	[45]
7	MWCNT-based C/C composites	CVI	148.6	52.8	10	[46]
8	CNT-C/C	CVI	233.28	1.73	\	[47]
9	CNT/C composite	one-step winding infiltration	317.5	1.12	2.89	[48]
10	CNT/C composite	mesophase pitch (MP)	78.6	\	0.38	[49]

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