Fabrication and Characterization of Aluminum-Carbon Nanotube Powder and Polycarbonate/Aluminum-Carbon Nanotube Composites

Abstract

Carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum powders (Al-CNT) were fabricated by ball milling. The morphology observed by a scanning electron microscope showed impregnation of CNTs on the surface of aluminum flakes (Al-flakes). Polycarbonate (PC)/Al-CNT nanocomposites were prepared by a twin-screw extruder. The electrical resistivity of PC/Al-flake composites did not change with Al-flake content, while that of PC/CNT nanocomposites decreased with increasing CNT content, and the percolation threshold was obtained at 2 wt% CNT loading. The electrical resistivity of PC/Al-CNT nanocomposites showed a behavior similar to PC/CNT nanocomposites. The thermal conductivity of the composites increased with increasing filler contents. The PC/Al-CNT composites showed a viscosity trend that is similar to PC/CNT composites; however, it showed higher viscosities (G*, G") than PC/Al-flake composites in the low frequency range (up to ∼10 Hz) and lower viscosities in the higher frequency range (>10 Hz). The tensile modulus of PC/ Al-CNT composite increased while the strength decreased with increasing filler content. The modulus of PC/Al-CNT composite was higher than PC/CNT and PC/ Al-flake composites.