Synthesis of Highly Stretchable and Electrically Conductive Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Nanocomposite Films

Abstract

Emulsion-based methods offer a range of advantages for fabrication of polymer nanocomposite materials. Herein, we have explored the use of in situ miniemulsion polymerization as well as a variety of physical mixing methods for preparation of nanocomposite films comprising multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and statistical copolymers based on styrene and n-butyl acrylate. Nanocomposite films were prepared at room temperature via simple drop casting of the obtained nanocomposite latex. It is demonstrated that both the fabrication method and compositional details such as the nature of the surfactant greatly influence the latex stability and the physical properties of the resulting nanocomposite films. Films prepared via miniemulsion polymerization exhibited high stretchability, whereas films produced by physical mixing showed electrical conductivities of approximately 102 S m–1, which lies in the highest range reported to date for such materials via any preparation technique and is the highest ever for emulsion-based techniques within this concentration range of carbon nanotubes. The high electrical conductivity with tuneable mechanical properties shown in this study is envisaged to boost interest in polymer/CNT nanocomposites for different applications.