Effect of bamboo-like carbon nanotubes on morphology, electrical properties, and thermal conductivity of poly(ether-ketone) matrix nanocomposites

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bamboo-like carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced poly(ether-ketone) (PEK) based nanocomposites were prepared via powder metallurgy route. The DC and AC electrical conductivities of the nanocomposites increased on increasing CNT loading in the PEK, marking an improvement of around 10 orders of magnitude for the 1.95 vol.% CNT reaching ~10−3 S/cm and ~10−4 S/cm (at nearly all the frequencies), respectively. The percolation threshold occurs between 1.3 vol.% and 1.95 vol.% CNT and the dielectric constant increased to ~60. The thermal stability and the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites were increased. Semi-empirical Helpin-Tsai model correlated nicely with the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites.