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Estimation of average contact number of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polymer nanocomposites to optimize the electrical conductivity

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Abstract

The present paper suggests an equation for the average contact number of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in CNT-reinforced polymer nanocomposites (PCNT) by two developed equations for electrical conductivity. Several novel parameters in PCNT such as CNT size, CNT concentration, network fraction, interphase depth, tunneling effect, and CNT wettability by the polymer medium are considered to define the average contact number (m). “m” is calculated for some samples and the variation of “m” is explored over a range of parameters’ values. The results show that dense interphase, high fraction of networked CNTs, reedy and short CNTs, low CNT surface energy, high polymer surface energy, low tunneling distance, and small contact diameter increase the “m” improving the conductivity. Moreover, tunneling distance and CNT contact diameter have the greatest effects on the “m”. The optimized level for “m” is necessary to control the nanocomposite’s conductivity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Project number: 2020R1A2B5B02002203).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Group, Department of Interdisciplinary Technologies, Breast Cancer Research Center, Motamed Cancer Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

    Yasser Zare

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seocheon, Giheung, Yongin, Gyeonggi, 449-701, Republic of Korea

    Kyong Yop Rhee

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  1. Yasser Zare
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Zare, Y., Rhee, K.Y. Estimation of average contact number of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polymer nanocomposites to optimize the electrical conductivity. Engineering with Computers 38 (Suppl 1), 243–253 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00366-020-01153-1

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