Abstract
Carbon nanotube reinforced polymeric composites can have favourable electrical properties, which make them useful for applications such as flat-panel displays and photovoltaic devices. However, using aqueous dispersions to fabricate composites with specific physical properties requires that the processing of the nanotube dispersion be understood and controlled while in the liquid phase. Here, using a combination of experiment and theory, we study the electrical percolation of carbon nanotubes introduced into a polymer matrix, and show that the percolation threshold can be substantially lowered by adding small quantities of a conductive polymer latex. Mixing colloidal particles of different sizes and shapes (in this case, spherical latex particles and rod-like nanotubes) introduces competing length scales that can strongly influence the formation of the system-spanning networks that are needed to produce electrically conductive composites. Interplay between the different species in the dispersions leads to synergetic or antagonistic percolation, depending on the ease of charge transport between the various conductive components.
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Acknowledgements
The work of A.V.K. and M.C.H. forms part of the research programme of the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI, project no. 592). T.S. acknowledges the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for financial support within the Emmy Noether Programme.
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A.V.K. and P.v.d.S. wrote the paper. A.V.K. performed the theoretical calculations and analysed the data. M.C.H. and B.K. carried out the experiments. T.S. carried out the M.C. computer simulations. C.E.K. and P.v.d.S. conceived and supervised the project. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Kyrylyuk, A., Hermant, M., Schilling, T. et al. Controlling electrical percolation in multicomponent carbon nanotube dispersions. Nature Nanotech 6, 364–369 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.40
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