Preparation of Electrically Conducting Bamboo Paper Using Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

The electrically conducting composite paper is prepared by incorporating the cellulosic pulp extracted mechano-chemically from a bamboo species, Arundinaria falcata, locally called Nigalo, with different amounts of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The raw and processed fibers as well as the composite papers with MWCNTs are examined with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The four-probe method is utilized to quantify the conductivity of the nanocomposite paper. The FTIR study reveals the removal of non-cellulosic components of plant fibers such as hemicelluloses, lignin, pectin, etc. during the chemical treatment. XRD analysis shows that the crystallinity of raw fiber increases from 56% to 63% after bleaching. The POM imaging of different samples also indicates an increase in the smoothness of the particle morphology, a decrease in particle size, and removal of lignin during the chemical treatment as suggested by the FTIR study. The composite paper comprising 5 and 10 wt% of MWCNT shows exceptionally high bulk conductivity of 1.56 and 6.27 S cm(-1), respectively.