1. Fabrication and property prediction of conductive and strain sensing TPU/CNT nanocomposite fibres
- Author
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Mark Baxendale, Emiliano Bilotti, Ton Peijs, Rui Zhang, and Hua Deng
- Subjects
Fabrication ,Materials science ,Nanocomposite ,General Chemistry ,Carbon nanotube ,Conductivity ,law.invention ,Condensed Matter::Materials Science ,Viscosity ,Thermoplastic polyurethane ,law ,Materials Chemistry ,Extrusion ,Composite material ,Electrical conductor - Abstract
In this study, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fibres containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and fabricated via an extrusion process were demonstrated to possess a tuneable level of electrical conductivity. A simple approach based on the time–temperature superposition applied to the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube (CNT) percolating in a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) melt was also developed to predict the conductivity of the nanocomposite fibres. The observation of Arrhenius dependence of zero-shear viscosity and the assumption of simple inverse proportionality between the variation of conductivity, due to network formation, and viscosity allow a universal plot of time variation of conductivity to be composed, which is able to predict the conductivity of the extruded fibres. The same TPU/CNT fibres were also demonstrated to possess good strain sensing abilities, which makes them good candidates for applications in smart textiles.
- Published
- 2010
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