Abstract To simultaneously improve mechanical and electrical properties for polymers via addition of appropriate nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), can be realized only if an effective treatment method for CNTs is applied. Here, we report a study of using gelatin, an environmental friendly and abundant protein with rich functional groups, as a bio-surfactant to treat multi-walled carbon nanotubes (gelatin-CNTs) for fabricating multifunctional epoxy nanocomposites. The study results show that the gelatin-CNTs are more effective than a type of chemically treated CNTs for improving multifunctional properties of epoxy, in addition to the benefit to the environment by avoiding applying conventional acids for CNT treatment. In specific, gelatin treatment significantly improved dispersion of CNTs, wettability, conductivity and mechanical properties for epoxy, in comparison with that of pristine CNTs/epoxy and amino treated system, NH2-CNTs/epoxy. The electrical conductivity of the epoxy nanocomposite with 0.5 wt% of gelatin-CNTs is two orders of magnitude higher than the NH2-CNTs/epoxy. The enhancement in the flexural modulus and strength of the 0.5 wt% gelatin-CNTs/epoxy is much bigger than those of NH2-CNTs/epoxy. The mechanism that is responsible for such significant enhancement in multifunctional properties is analyzed. This research work provides a new green avenue to the fabrication of high performance multifunctional nano-modified epoxy matrix.

中文翻译：

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用于缺陷控制的生物表面活性剂：用于导电环氧纳米复合材料的多功能明胶涂层多壁碳纳米管

摘要 只有采用有效的碳纳米管处理方法，才能通过添加合适的纳米材料，如碳纳米管（CNTs）来同时提高聚合物的机械和电学性能。在这里，我们报告了使用明胶（一种具有丰富官能团的环境友好且含量丰富的蛋白质）作为生物表面活性剂来处理多壁碳纳米管（明胶-CNT）以制造多功能环氧纳米复合材料的研究。研究结果表明，明胶-碳纳米管比一种化学处理的碳纳米管更有效地改善环氧树脂的多功能特性，此外还避免使用传统的酸进行碳纳米管处理，从而对环境有益。具体而言，明胶处理显着改善了碳纳米管的分散性、润湿性、与原始碳纳米管/环氧树脂和氨基处理系统、NH2-碳纳米管/环氧树脂相比，环氧树脂的导电性和机械性能。含有 0.5 wt% 明胶-CNTs 的环氧树脂纳米复合材料的电导率比 NH2-CNTs/环氧树脂高两个数量级。0.5 wt% 明胶-碳纳米管/环氧树脂的弯曲模量和强度的增强远大于 NH2-碳纳米管/环氧树脂。分析了导致多功能特性显着增强的机制。这项研究工作为高性能多功能纳米改性环氧树脂基体的制备提供了一条新的绿色途径。5 wt% 的明胶-CNTs 比NH2-CNTs/环氧树脂高两个数量级。0.5 wt% 明胶-碳纳米管/环氧树脂的弯曲模量和强度的增强远大于 NH2-碳纳米管/环氧树脂。分析了导致多功能特性显着增强的机制。这项研究工作为制备高性能多功能纳米改性环氧树脂基体提供了一条新的绿色途径。5 wt% 的明胶-CNTs 比NH2-CNTs/环氧树脂高两个数量级。0.5 wt% 明胶-碳纳米管/环氧树脂的弯曲模量和强度的增强远大于 NH2-碳纳米管/环氧树脂。分析了导致多功能特性显着增强的机制。这项研究工作为制备高性能多功能纳米改性环氧树脂基体提供了一条新的绿色途径。