Incorporation of Carbon Nanotubes into Nylon Filaments
NSF Phase II Contract No. DMI-0321695
This SBIR Phase II project continued the development of our method for incorporating Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNT) into nylon to act as reinforcement. Their incorporation was achieved by wrapping the SWNTs with a functionalized polymer that interacts with the SWNTs mechanically, but is not chemically bound to them. The polymer was chemically bound to the nylon and in this way will act as a load transferring conduit between the nylon matrix and nanotubes in the final composite. For nylon fibers, the degree to which it is possible to align the SWNTs along the major axis of the fiber filaments played a role in the fiber’s thermal and electrical conductivity as well as strength. The primary focus of this work was to optimize the SWNT / nylon matrix interaction in order to obtain the best load transfer properties. Methods to align the SWNTs along the long axis of the nylon filaments in order to maximize fiber strength were investigated.
This high strength nylon composite has significant applications in the aerospace industry for use in fabricating light weight, retrievable, satellite launch vehicles, reusable space craft, etc. The military is also interested in this technology because of the combination of exceptionally high strength, light weight and stealth capability. The successful development of this technology will result in new light weight thermoplastic composites that have extraordinarily high flexural, tensile and impact strengths and can be easily molded into any shape desired. This new technology will eventually be applicable to many other materials. Additionally, since these composites are thermoplastics and not thermosets, they are more easily recycled.