Abstract
Ni particles supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were dispersed in a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) matrix by solution blending and then cast onto an electrode to get composite films under low magnetic fields. The orientation of CNTs in the films was characterised by scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. Multimeter and high resistance meter were used to study the electrical behaviour of the nanocomposites. The glass transition temperature Tg of PMMA was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The results show that the alignment of the CNTs dispersed in the PMMA was achieved under a low magnetic strength below 0·5 T. Because of the ferromagnetism of Ni particles, the magnetic alignment of CNTs susceptibly changed. The magnetic alignment units in this work were rod-like CNTs aggregates instead of single CNTs, which took part in the buildup of a specific CNTs network structure in PMMA matrix. The network structure played a key role in significantly improving electrical conductivity and Tg of the nanocomposites.
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