1. Polyvinyl butyral-based composites with carbon nanotubes: Efficient dispersion as a key to high mechanical properties
- Author
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Matteo Pavese, Silvia Marchisio, Alessandra Merlo, Roberto Nisticò, Luca Lavagna, Lavagna, L, Marchisio, S, Merlo, A, Nistico', R, and Pavese, M
- Subjects
carbon nanotubes ,dispersion ,mechanical properties ,polymer composite ,polyvinyl butyral ,Materials science ,CHIM/03 - CHIMICA GENERALE ED INORGANICA ,Polymers and Plastics ,General Chemistry ,Carbon nanotube ,law.invention ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Polyvinyl butyral ,chemistry ,law ,Materials Chemistry ,Ceramics and Composites ,Polymer composites ,mechanical propertie ,Composite material ,carbon nanotube ,Dispersion (chemistry) - Abstract
Even if the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and their derivatives are commonly used as reinforcing phase in composite materials, also in commercial products, their tendency to agglomerate generally determines a scarce dispersion, thus not maximizing the effect due to the second phase. In this article, a perfect dispersion of highly entangled nanotubes was achieved by using a very simple approach: exploiting the dispersing effect of a low-cost polymer, polyvinyl butyral (PVB), coupled with standard ultrasound sonication. Several dispersion approaches were tested in order to develop a consistent and widely applicable dispersion protocol. The tape casting technology was subsequently used to produce 100 to 300 μm thick PVB-matrix composite tapes, reinforced by multiwall CNTs dispersed according to the optimized protocol. Their mechanical properties were evaluated, and a simple model was used to demonstrate that the effective dispersion of CNTs is the key to obtain significantly improved properties.
- Published
- 2020