Tunable mechanical properties of self-assembled SWNT/polymer nanocomposite films for MEMS

Abstract

This paper presents layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembled single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)/ polymer nanocomposite films with a large range of tunable mechanical properties, characterized by a combinative approach of piezoelectric excitation and laser vibrometer measurement. The Young's modulus of SWNT/polymer nanocomposites is tunable from hundreds to tens of GPa, as a function of the SWNT volume fraction. This tunability can serve as a benchmark to tailor the nanocomposite thin films for potential applications to MEMS and NEMS devices, such as nanoswitches, nanoresonators, and biosensors.