Carbon nanotube tensile properties

The first carbon nanotubes discovered in nature, such as those produced in Iijima s experiments, were multiwalled nanotuhes (MWNT). Multiwalled nanotuhes consist of a number of concentric carbon cylinders, a set of tubes nested inside each other. They are somewhat complex systems that are relatively difficult to study. An important step forward in research on carbon nanotuhes occurred in 1993, when scientists learned how to make single-walled nanotubes (SWNT). Using the simpler SWNTs, scientists have learned quite rapidly a great deal about the electrical conductivity, tensile strength, flexibility, toughness, and other physical properties of carbon nanotuhes. 

Yu, M.-F., Files, B.S., Arepalli, S. and Ruoff, R.S., Tensile loading of ropes of single wall carbon nanotubes and their mechanical properties , Phys. Rev. Lett., 2000, 84, 5552-5555. 

The mechanical properties of various types of carbon nanotubes have been extensively studied by both theoretical and experimental studies. In 1993, Overney et al. firstly calculated the rigidity of short SWNTs and the calculated Young s modulus was estimated to be about 1500 GPa, similar to that of graphite (65). Then a range of studies predicted that the Young s modulus of carbon nanotubes was approximately 1 TPa (66). The tensile strength of SWNTs was also estimated from molecular dynamics simulation to be 150 MPa (67). 

Kwon et al. compared WPU/MWNT with WPU/nitric acid treated multiwalled carbon nanotube (A-CNT) composites (20). The tensile strength and modulus of the WPU/A-CNT composites were higher than those of the WPU/MWNT composites with the same CNT content. The better mechanical properties of WPU / A-CNT composites can perhaps be attributed to higher content of polar groups of A-CNTs thus inducing higher interfacial interactions between A-CNTs and WPU chains. 

Globally, carbon nanotubes have a positive effect on the mechanical properties of all the composites with PVA matrices described in the previous sections. However, the enhancement of mechanical properties differs substantially from a material to another, depending on the type of nanotubes, or on the process used to manufacture the composite. The Young s modulus and the strength are deduced from usual tensile experiments. As depicted in Figure 11.4, PVA/nanotube composites generally follow the same tensile behavior, with a short elastic regime on the first percent strain, followed by a more or less extended plastic behavior. 

Effect of Structure and Morphology on the Tensile Properties of Polymer/ Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites... 

Due to their fibrous stracture and remarkable properties, carbon nanotubes are suitable to the production of polymer composites. Their extreme tensile strength... 

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