Electrically Conductive Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Amorphous Polyamide Nanocomposites

Nanocomposites (NCs) based on an amorphous polyamide (aPA) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were obtained by melt-mixing. As individual nanotubes were mostly observed, dispersion of the carbon nanotubes was deemed good. The electrical percolation threshold (pc) occurred at 2.97 wt% MWCNTs and as a result, electrical conductivity improved by nine orders of magnitude upon addition of 6 wt% MWCNTs. The 6 wt% MWCNTs also led to an increase in both thermal stability (measured by the degradation temperature) and Young's modulus (19%) for the NCs, and ductility remained the same. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:587-595, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers.