Temperature Dependent Conductivity of Metallized and NonMetallized Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes and Corresponding Nanocomposites

The availability of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) has lead to realization of low cost, highly conductive, bulk nanocomposites. Bulk nanocomposites of MWCNTs and metallized MWCNTs have been produced at loadings ranging from 0.1 to 20 vol {\%} in select thermoplastics. The corresponding DC, room temperature conductivity of these nanocomposites ranged from a few uS/cm to 400S/cm. The DC electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites and of the pure nanotubes were characterized over a broad temperature range (5K to 500K) to elucidate the electron transport properties of these materials. Significant changes in the electrical conductivity were observed and will be reported. The understanding of the temperature dependent behavior of these materials is critical to determining the appropriate use temperatures for end products made from these multi-wall carbon nanotubes.