Investigation of the Optimal Nano Clay Reinforcement to Improve the Electrical Conductivity of CNT/Epoxy Composite Material

Abstract

Due to their very good electrical, thermal and mechanical properties, carbon nanotubes have started to attract a lot of attention in recent years for their use as reinforcement materials by researchers working on the use of polymer composites in areas such as energy, electrostatic dissipation, photovoltaic devices and electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI). However, carbon nanotubes tend to clump a lot due to the van der Waals attraction between them, making them difficult to use. Carbon nanotubes, which are agglomerated in the polymer matrix, increase the viscosity, making production difficult and causing the desired properties of the final product not to be obtained. One of the methods used to prevent agglomeration is to add a third nano component to the CNT/epoxy system and provide dispersion as a result of its synergistic effect. In this study, it was aimed to find the recipe to obtain optimum electrical conductivity by adding different amounts of nanoclay to CNT/epoxy samples in order to improve the distribution of carbon nanotubes and therefore increase electrical conductivity.