Preparation and Properties of SWNTs/PU Conductive Nonwovens with High SWNTs Loadings

Abstract

In this study, electrospinning technique was used to produce single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)/thermal polyurethane (PU) nanofibrous nonwovens. The used content of SWNTs was changed from zero to 10 wt% within the PU fibers. Morphology, thermal stability, and dynamic properties of the SWNTs/PU nonwovens were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), respectively. Direct current (DC) conductivities and alternating-current (AC) conductivities of the resulting nonwovens were also obtained by resistivity measurement. Results have shown that thermal decomposition temperature, storage modulus, and glass transition temperature (T _g) of the nonwovens are improved significantly by adding high amount of SWNTs into the PU ultrathin fibers. As the SWNTs loading increased, the diameter of the SWNTs/PU fibers decreased. Also, the conductivity of the nanofibrous nonwovens is improved by 10 orders of magnitude with a 10 wt% SWNTs loading.

Keywords:

• Single-walled nanotubes
• Polyurethane
• Electrospinning
• Conductivity

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, China (Grant No. 10ZR1431400).