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- ItemEffect of additives on MWCNT dispersion and electrical percolation in polyamide 12 composites(Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Socher, Robert; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, PetraThe aim of this study was to decrease the electrical percolation threshold of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a polyamide 12 matrix by the use of additives. Different kinds of additives were selected which either interact with the π-system of the MWCNTs (imidazolium based ionic liquid (IL) and perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA)) or improve the MWCNT wettability (cyclic butylene terephthalate, CBT). The composites were melt mixed using a DACA microcompounder. The electrical percolation threshold for PA12/MWCNT without additives, measured on compression molded plates, was found between 2.0 and 2.25 wt%. With all used additives, a significant reduction of the electrical percolation threshold could be achieved. Whereas the addition of IL and CBT resulted in MWCNT percolation at around 1.0 wt%, a slightly higher percolation threshold between 1.0 and 1.5 wt% was found for PTCDA as an additive. Interestingly, the electrical resistivity at higher loadings was decreased by nearly two decades when using CBT and one decade after application of PTCDA, whereas IL did not contribute to lower values in this range. In all cases macrodispersion as assessed by light microscopy was not improved and even worse as compared to non-modified composites. In summary, the results illustrate that these kinds of additives are able to improve the performance of PA12 based MWCNT nanocomposites.
- ItemMelt mixed composites of polypropylene with singlewalled carbon nanotubes for thermoelectric applications: Switching from p- to n-type behavior by additive addition(Melville, NY : AIP, 2019) Pötschke; Petra; Krause, Beate; Luo, JinjiComposites were prepared with polypropylene (PP) as the matrix and singlewalled CNTs (SWCNTs) of the type TUBALL from OCSiAl Ltd. as the conducting component by melt processing in a small-scale twin-screw compounder. In order to switch the typical p-type behavior of such composites from positive Seebeck coefficients (S) into n-type behavior with negative Seebeck coefficients, a non-ionic surfactant polyoxyethylene 20 cetyl ether (Brij58) was used and compared with a PEG additive, which was shown previously to be able to induce such switching. For PP-2 wt% SWCNT composites Brij58 is shown to result in n-type composites. The negative S values (up to −48.2 µV/K) are not as high as in the case of previous results using PEG (−56.6 µV/K). However, due to the more pronounced effect of Brij58 on the electrical conductivity, the achieved power factors are higher and reach a maximum of 0.144 µW/(m·K2) compared to previous 0.078 µW/(m·K2) with PEG. Dispersion improvement depends on the type of SWCNTs obtained by using varied synthesis/treatment conditions. Solution prepared composites of PEG with SWCNTs also have negative S values, indicating the donation of electrons from PEG to the SWCNTs. However, such composites are brittle and not suitable as thermoelectric materials.
- ItemElectrical and thermal conductivity of polypropylene filled with combinations of carbon fillers(Melville, NY : AIP, 2016) Krause, Beate; Pötschke, PetraThe thermal and electrical conductivity of polymer composites filled with a low content up to 7.5 vol% of different carbon fillers (carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, graphite nanoplates) were investigated. It was found that the combination of two or three carbon fillers leads to an increase of thermal conductivity up to 193% which is higher than the sum of the effects of both fillers.
- ItemPP/SWCNT composites modified with ionic liquid(Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Krause, Beate; Predtechenskiy, M.; Ilin, E.; Pötschke, PetraPolypropylene composites filled with singlewalled carbon nanotubes TUBALL® (SWCNTs) were studied with regard to the effect of ionic liquid (IL) addition in different SWCNT:IL ratios (1:0.5 - 1:6). The incorporation of IL leads to a decrease of the electrical percolation threshold and already at 0.025 wt% SWCNT loading reduced resistivity values can be observed. However, the SWCNT macro dispersion, already relatively good without IL, was not affected by the IL incorporation. In addition, the nucleation effect of the SWCNT in polypropylene is not influenced when simultaneously adding IL, whereas the crystallization enthalpy slightly decreases with its addition.
- ItemInfluence of mixing conditions on carbon nanotube shortening and curling in polycarbonate composites(Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Krause, Beate; Carval, J.; Pötschke, PetraPolycarbonate composites containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs, 0.2-2.0 wt%) were melt mixed in small scale at different conditions of screw speed and mixing time to vary the specific mechanical energy (SME) input between 0.4 and 4.0 kWh/kg. Next to the electrical properties of compression molded plates and the MWCNT macrodispersion also the nanotube length and shape were analyzed. For this, the matrix of the composites with 0.75 wt% MWCNT loading was dissolved and the remaining nanotubes were investigated using TEM. It was found that with increasing SME input the number of remaining CNT agglomerates decreases. The MWCNT length decreased from initially about 1.4 micrometers towards 350 nanometers at a SME of 4 kWh/kg and the mean curling values were also reduced. The electrical percolation threshold increases with SME from about 0.4 wt% to 0.6 wt%.
- ItemPolymer - Carbon nanotube composites for thermoelectric applications(Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Luo, J.; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, PetraThe thermoelectric (TE) performance of electrically conductive thermoplastic composites prepared by melt mixing was investigated. A cost effective widely used in industry polymer, namely polypropylene (PP), was chosen as the matrix to fabricate the composites. Singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), the amount (2 wt%) of which was selected to be above the electrical percolation threshold (< 0.2 wt%), were used to form an electrical conducting network. Besides as-produced SWCNTs plasma modified tubes were employed to study the influence of the functionalization on the morphology, dispersion and TE properties of the PP composites. In addition, melt processing conditions, e.g. temperature, rotation speed, and time during mixing in a small-scale compounder were varied. Furthermore, an ionic liquid (IL, 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate) was used as a processing additive during melt mixing, which was confirmed to improve the electrical conductivity of the composites. Simultaneous increase in the Seebeck coefficient up to a value of 64 μV/K was recorded, leading to a much better power factor of 0.26 μW/(m·K2) compared to composites without IL. This melt mixing strategy opens new avenues for solvent-free, large scale fabrication of polymer based TE materials.
- ItemInfluence of a supplemental filler in twin-screw extruded PP/CNT composites using masterbatch dilution(Melville, NY : AIP, 2019) Müller, Michael Thomas; Krause, Beate; Kretzschmar, Bernd; Pötschke, PetraIn this study commercially available multiwalled carbon nanotubes (2-8 wt.%) were incorporated in polypropylene (PP) by direct powder feeding or by a masterbatch dilution procedure using a twin-screw extruder. The influence of a supplemental, electrical non-conductive talc or electrically conductive carbon black (CB), filler on the resulting composite properties was investigated. In comparison to the direct carbon nanotube (CNT) incorporation the masterbatch dilution step resulted in improved CNT macro dispersion. The use of the supplemental fillers CB or talc does not show a significant influence on the CNT dispersion state. When compared to direct CNT incorporation, the second compounding process involved in masterbatch dilution leads to higher electrical resistivity of injection molded samples. On the other hand, the supplemental fillers talc or CB decreased the electrical resistivity values. With the addition of talc or CB an increase of the Young’s modulus due to the reinforcing effect of the second filler was achieved. However, no synergistic effect between the used supplemental fillers and the CNT on the mechanical properties was obtained.
- ItemThermal conductivity of hybrid filled HDPE nanocomposites(Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Müller, M. T.; Krause, Beate; Kretzschmar, B.; Jahn, I.; Pötschke, PetraIn this study composite materials based on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with fillers containing nanostructures were prepared using melt mixing. Vapour Grown Carbon Fibers (VGCF), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) of the types Baytubes® C150P and Nanocyl™ NC7000, anthracite powder, microsilica, organoclay and expanded graphite (EG) as well as mixtures of these fillers were used. The amount and mixing ratios of the hybrid filled systems have been varied to determine their effects on the achievable level of thermal conductivity as measured on compression molded plates. The filler dispersion and phase adhesion were studied using scanning electron microscopy. When limiting the maximum filler content to 10 wt%, the highest enhancement in thermal conductivity by 166% was found for VGCF followed by a 1:1 filler combination of VGCF with EG (148%).