Title page for ETD etd-11182007-225656

Type of Document

Thesis

Author

Xue, Yuan

URN

etd-11182007-225656

Title

Experimental Study of Electrical Conductivity of Carbon Nanotube, Nanofiber Buckypapers and their Composites

Degree

Master of Science

Department

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Department of

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name	Title
Zhiyong Liang	Committee Chair
Ben Wang	Committee Member
Chuck Zhang	Committee Member
Petru Andrei	Committee Member

Keywords

Functionalization
Carbon Nanotubes
Electrical Conductivity
Nanocomposites
Buckypaper

Date of Defense

2007-11-12

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

The discovery of carbon nanotubes brought on a whole new world of nanotechnology. Various forms of carbon materials were developed, including single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT), multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT), and carbon nanofiber (CNF). These carbon nanomaterials attract academic and industrial interests because of their exceptional mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. For electrical conductivity in particular, it is widely recognized that SWNTs have considerable potential as building blocks for future nanoscale electronics and conducting composites.
The first objective of this thesis is to develop a comprehensive electrical resistivity measurement system which can measure the electrical resistivity of nanotube-based materials ranging from 1.0E-6 зcm to 1.0E+17 зcm. The test setup performance was examined using Gage R&R (Repeatability and reproducibility) analysis. The second objective is to characterize and analyze electrical conductive properties of different Buckypapers (thin film of nanotube network) and nanocomposites to demonstrate their performance and establish a database for future applications. Detailed characterizations of the electrical conductivities of SWNT, MWNT, and carbon fiber Buckypapers and their composites were conducted. The influential factors of resistivity of Buckypapers were discussed, including the effects of nanotube batches, processing methods, and surfactant types.
In this study, the electrical resistivity properties of the mixed Buckypapers of SWNT/MWNT and SWNT/CNF were also investigated. The effects of nanoparticle types (SWNT, MWNT, and CNF) were examined. The results show that the low cost MWNT and nanofiber materials can still retain good electrical conductivity of the resultant mixed Buckypapers, creating excellent application potentials for developing cost effective multifunctional composites.
The thesis also studied the electrical conductivity of functionalized SWNT Buckypapers. Functionalization of nanotubes was suggested to be an effective way to tune the electrical conductivity of CNTs. The functionalization methods included electron-beam irradiation and fluorinated grafting. The resistivities of the functionalized SWNT Buckypapers were experimentally investigated.

Files

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Filename		Size	28.8 Modem	56K Modem	ISDN (64 Kb)	ISDN (128 Kb)	Higher-speed Access
	Thesis on CD-Joanne-final.pdf	5.67 Mb	00:26:14	00:13:29	00:11:48	00:05:54	00:00:30