Thermo-mechanical stability of a cellular assembly of carbon nanotubes in air

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) in bulk form offer outstanding structural and functional properties, and are shown to remain viscoelastic over a wide temperature range (77–1273K) under inert conditions. We examine the quasi-static and dynamic compressive mechanical response of these cellular CNT materials in ambient air up to a temperature of 773K. In uniaxial quasi-static compression, several displacement bursts are noted at large strains. These are results of the slippage and zipping of the CNT, and lead to significant mechanical energy absorption. Results of the dynamic mechanical analysis experiments show no degradation in storage modulus and loss coefficient for up to 20h at 673K. Hence, these stable cellular CNT structures can be utilized up to a maximum temperature of 673K in air, which is much higher than the best polymers.