Electrical Conductivity Investigation of Mono-filler and Bi-filler Polyurethane Based Nanocomposites

In the present study, different nanocomposite samples including polyurethane (PU)/carbon fiber (CF), PU/carbon nanotube (CNT), and PU/CF/CNT were prepared via melt compounding method and evaluated via various techniques including microscopy, conductivity measurement as well as dynamic-mechanical analysis. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that in hybrid nanocomposite, the connection between nanoparticles was substantially increased and a co-continuous structure was formed. Dynamic mechanical analysis corroborated that the simultaneous presence of two fillers boosted the solid like behavior of the nanocomposites. Conductivity measurement proved that the electrical conductivity values of the bi-filler composites was higher than those of mono-filler counterparts.

Keywords:

polyurethane , carbon fbers , carbon nanotubes , nanocomposite , electrical conduciivity