Paper Number
PO100
Session
Poster Session
Title
Mechanical and electrical properties of poly(ethylene oxide)/carbon nanotube nanocomposites
Presentation Date and Time
October 17, 2018 (Wednesday) 6:30
Track / Room
Poster Session / Woodway II/III
Authors
- Getangama, Nirosh (University of Western Ontario, Physics and Astronomy)
- de Bruyn, John R. (University of Western Ontario, Physics and Astronomy)
- Hutter, Jeffrey L. (University of Western Ontario, Physics and Astronomy)
Author and Affiliation Lines
Nirosh Getangama, John R. de Bruyn, and Jeffrey L. Hutter
Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada
Speaker / Presenter
Getangama, Nirosh
Text of Abstract
We study the mechanical and dielectric properties of poly(ethylene oxide)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PEO/MWCNT) composites made by melt mixing and compression molding. Small-amplitude oscillatory shear measurements were performed as a function of MWCNT concentration c and temperature T close to and above the melting temperature of PEO. Dielectric properties were studied for frequencies from 1 mHz to 1 MHz as a function of T and c using a dielectric spectrometer. Both the elastic and viscous moduli of the composite increased with increasing MWCNT concentration. At low c and temperatures above the melting temperature, the moduli show Maxwell-like behavior, with a crossover corresponding to a characteristic relaxation time. Increasing c causes the mechanical relaxation time of the nanocomposites to increase, and at high concentrations, the elastic modulus dominates at all frequencies. The dielectric relaxation time and DC conductivity were extracted from the dielectric spectra using existing models. Our data for PEO/MWCNT show that an electrical percolation transition occurs for c between 1 and 1.5 wt%. Both dielectric and mechanical data show that polymer relaxation is altered by the interaction between the nanotubes and PEO polymer chains.