Effect of Carbon Nanotubes on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Smart Polymer Nanocomposites

Subject Areas : نانومواد و پلیمرهای هوشمند

Bita Farahani ¹ , Masoud Giahi Saravani ² , Reza Fazaeli ³ , Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani ⁴ , Omid Moradi ⁵

1 - Department of Physical Chemistry, ST.C, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

Received: 2025-06-03 Accepted : 2025-06-10 Published : 2025-05-03

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, Nanocomposites, Smart polymers, Thermal properties, Mechanical reinforcement,

Abstract :

This study investigates the influence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the thermal and mechanical properties of thermally responsive polymer nanocomposites. Smart polymers with temperature-dependent behavior have gained significant attention due to their potential applications in biomedical devices, sensors, and actuators. However, their relatively poor mechanical properties often limit their practical applications. In this work, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogels were reinforced with varying concentrations (0-2.0 wt%) of functionalized MWCNTs. The incorporation of MWCNTs resulted in significant enhancement of thermal responsiveness, with the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) shifting from 32°C to 35°C. Mechanical characterization revealed that the addition of 1.5 wt% MWCNTs increased the tensile strength by 87% and the Young's modulus by 125% compared to the neat polymer. Thermal conductivity measurements showed a 178% improvement at 2.0 wt% MWCNT loading. The findings demonstrate the synergistic effect of carbon nanotubes on enhancing both the thermal responsiveness and mechanical properties of smart polymer nanocomposites, providing valuable insights for the design of advanced stimuli-responsive materials.

References:

[1] X. Zhao, Z. Li, Y. Chen, L. Shi, and Y. Zhu, "Solid-state electrochemically derived graphene/polyaniline hybrid for electrochemical supercapacitors," J. Power Sources, vol. 225, pp. 372-378, 2013.
[2] F. Wang, L. T. Drzal, Y. Qin, and Z. Huang, "Mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of graphene nanoplatelet/epoxy composites," J. Mater. Sci., vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 1082-1093, 2015.
[3] H. Huang, C. Liu, Y. Wu, and S. Fan, "Aligned carbon nanotube composite films for thermal management," Adv. Mater., vol. 17, no. 13, pp. 1652-1656, 2005.
[4] J. Zhu, H. Peng, F. Rodriguez-Macias, J. L. Margrave, V. N. Khabashesku, A. M. Imam, K. Lozano, and E. V. Barrera, "Reinforcing epoxy polymer composites through covalent integration of functionalized nanotubes," Adv. Funct. Mater., vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 643-648, 2004.
[5] M. Zhang, S. Fang, A. A. Zakhidov, S. B. Lee, A. E. Aliev, C. D. Williams, K. R. Atkinson, and R. H. Baughman, "Strong, transparent, multifunctional, carbon nanotube sheets," Science, vol. 309, no. 5738, pp. 1215-1219, 2005.
[6] R. H. Baughman, A. A. Zakhidov, and W. A. de Heer, "Carbon nanotubes--the route toward applications," Science, vol. 297, no. 5582, pp. 787-792, 2002.
[7] Y. Geng, M. Y. Liu, J. Li, X. M. Shi, and J. K. Kim, "Effects of surfactant treatment on mechanical and electrical properties of CNT/epoxy nanocomposites," Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf., vol. 39, no. 12, pp. 1876-1883, 2008.
[8] T. Ramanathan, A. A. Abdala, S. Stankovich, D. A. Dikin, M. Herrera-Alonso, R. D. Piner, D. H. Adamson, H. C. Schniepp, X. Chen, R. S. Ruoff, S. T. Nguyen, I. A. Aksay, R. K. Prud'Homme, and L. C. Brinson, "Functionalized graphene sheets for polymer nanocomposites," Nat. Nanotechnol., vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 327-331, 2008.