Thermal and electrical characterization of polymer/carbon nanotubes composites with polyvinyl butyral matrix

Abstract

The rapid development of modern technology requires new materials with predetermined properties. There is a need for materials with ultra-high strength, hardness, other characteristics and a common combination of these properties. The work was aimed at solving the problem of creating polymer composite materials that combine high physical and mechanical characteristics and thermal and electrical conductivity. Information was given on fillers, the use of which gives polymers thermal and electrical properties. Shown are the most commonly used in the composition of polymer composites fillers, advantages and disadvantages of each of the fillers. It was established that the use of carbon nanotubes allows obtaining polymer composites with the required performance characteristics. One of the problems when using nanoparticles as modifiers of reactive oligomers is their uniform distribution in the volume of the polymer matrix. Heterogeneity and uneven distribution of the dispersed phase can lead to dangerous defects in the material, so the technology of combining the nanofillers and the polymer matrix plays an important role. The possibility of obtaining polyvinyl butyral structured with carbon nanotubes in the process of its synthesis in the presence of carbon nanotubes was shown and the technological conditions of In situ synthesis are developed. Experimental samples of polyvinyl butyral structured with carbon nanotubes with high thermal and electrically conductive characteristics were obtained. Under optimal conditions of synthesis, in the obtained PVB samples structured with carbon nanotubes, the electrical conductivity of the composite increases by five orders of magnitude due to the high electrical conductivity of CNTs. For the obtained PVB, structured with carbon nanotubes, the fracture stress was significantly (by 62 %) increased, and the fracture deformation is reduced by approximately 38 %. The decrease in the deformation of the fracture during compression indicates an increase in the fragility of the polymer with the inclusion of CNTs. The prospects for the synthesis of polyvinyl butyral in the presence of carbon nanotubes to obtain a composite with a high level of achieved electrical and thermal conductivity were shown.