Carbon nanotube-enabled materials

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNT), developed in the 1990s, are available with single wall, double wall, and multiwall. This chapter addresses general considerations in polymer/carbon nanotube composite research. The field of polymer/CNT composites is only about a decade old. In this period, more than 1000 referred publications have appeared on this subject, while more than 10,000 publications have appeared on CNTs. A CNT/polypyrrole (PPy) composite processed by electro-chemical polymerization revealed remarkably uniform PPy coating on individual nanotubes, indicating nanotube wetting by the continuous polymer phase. CNTs can be dispersed in water using anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants. The size of the hydrophilic group of nonionic surfactant or polymer is claimed to be the major factor for suspending nanotubes. The tensile strength of polymers and polymeric fibers increases with increasing molecular weight, and hence with increasing length of the polymer molecule. Conducting polymers, such as polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polyaniline, and polythiophene, are common electrode materials for super-capacitors.