Fabrication of superhydrophobic and conductive CNT/KB/PBZ nanocomposites

Abstract

In this study, a simple and economical fabrication of superhydrophobic and conductive coatings with different loadings of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Ketjen black (KB) dispersed in polybenzoxazine (PBZ) solution is presented. The relationship between the ratio of CNT, KB and PBZ with the properties of the composites was investigated in this article. The morphology and structure of the obtained composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, the water contact angle (WCA) and sheet resistance were investigated using a contact angle goniometer and four-point probe technique. Loading different amounts of CNT, KB and PBZ allowed the composites to exhibit different degrees of hydrophobicity and conductivity. Interestingly, a synergistic effect has been observed between CNT and KB. It was found that the coatings containing CNT:KB:PBZ = 4:6:10 showed both the highest WCA (about 160°), lowest sliding angle (about 3°) and lowest sheet resistance, which can reach approximately 6.5 × 102 Ω/sq. Furthermore, the CNT/KB/PBZ nanocomposites have excellent stability under a wide range of pH values and different environmental conditions.