Electrically Percolating Clusters in Sheared Carbon Nanotube Composites

ORAL

Abstract

The electrical conductivity of polymer nanotube composites can be dramatically modified by processing flows and subsequent annealing. The mechanism is widely believed to be nanotube structural rearrangements that occur during flow and alter the percolating pathways. We seek to directly visualize these flow-induced three-dimensional percolating clusters through three-dimensional confocal microscopy and image analysis.

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Authors

  • Kalman Migler

    Materials Science and Engineering Division, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, Materials Science and Engineering Division, NIST

  • Doyoung Moon

    Materials Science and Engineering Division, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD

  • Jan Obrzut

    Materials Science and Engineering Division, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD

  • Jack Douglas

    Materials Science and Engineering Division, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, Polymer Division, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, Polymers Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA

  • Thomas Lam

    Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, NIST

  • Renu Sharma

    Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD

  • J. Alexander Liddle

    Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, NIST