SWNTs. freestanding

SWNT/polymer composites could also be made by a two-step fabrication process. For example, SWNT films were first fabricated on glass slides via Mayer rod coating, and then polymers such as PVA, Nafion and polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) were infiltrated into SWNT networks. As the polymer occupied the empty space between the nanotubes, a freestanding... 

A recently reported method for producing novel SWNT-polymer nanocomposites involved the use of self-assembled SWNT nanopaper films produced by vacuum filtration of SWNTs dispersed with surfactants in aqueous solution. The freestanding nanopaper films were soaked in a polymer resin followed by drying and hot pressing to form a composite in which the polymer is intercalated into the free volume between the SWNT bundles [64]. 

Fig. 3. Electron microscopy of the rupture region in SWNT multilayers, (a) SEM image of the surface and broken edges of ((PEI/PAAXPEI/SWNTlsls. (b) and (c) TEM images of ruptured areas of the freestanding films. The arrows indicate the likely stubs of the broken nanotubes bundles. They were identified as such because (i) the diameter of both of them is equal to theat of the actual SWNT bundle bridging the gap and (2) their mutual positioning presents a virtually perfect match with the expected location of the ends of a bundle broken during gap opening.

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