Carbon nanotube buckypaper reinforced polymer composites: a review

Abstract This review provides valuable information about the general characteristics, processing conditions and physical properties of carbon nanotube buckypaper (BP) and its polymer composites. Vacuum filtration is the most common technique used for manufacturing BP, since the carbon nanotubes are dispersed in aqueous solution with the aid of surfactant. Previous works have reported that mechanical properties of BP prepared by vacuum filtration technique are relatively weak. On the other hand, the incorporation of polymer materials in those nanostructures revealed a significant improvement in their mechanical behavior, since the impregnation between matrix and BP is optimized. Electrical conductivity of BP/polymer composites can reach values as high as 2000 S/m, which are several orders of magnitude greater than traditional CNT/polymer composites. Also, BP can improve remarkably the thermal stability of polymer matrices, opening new perspectives to use this material in fire retardant applications.

摘要 本综述系统阐述了碳纳米管巴基纸（carbon nanotube buckypaper，BP）及其聚合物复合材料的通用特性、制备工艺与物理性能。真空过滤法是制备巴基纸的主流工艺，该方法借助表面活性剂将碳纳米管分散于水溶液中。已有研究表明，采用真空过滤法制备的巴基纸力学性能相对偏弱。而将聚合物材料引入巴基纸纳米结构中，可显著改善其力学性能，这是因为基体与巴基纸之间的浸渍作用得到了优化。碳纳米管巴基纸/聚合物复合材料的电导率可高达2000 S/m，较传统碳纳米管（CNT）/聚合物复合材料高出数个数量级。此外，巴基纸可显著提升聚合物基体的热稳定性，为该材料在阻燃应用领域开辟了全新的发展前景。