Nanotube/nylon material using carbon spacers.(NANOMATERIALS)

Advanced Composites Bulletin, June, 2007

A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and Rice University, both USA, have developed a nylon composite reinforced with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), which is strong and tough.

The material was created using a patented method, developed by engineers from Penn, called interfacial polymerization. This method evenly disperses carbon nanotubes throughout the nylon. The researchers have now "fine tuned" the composite material on a molecular level by introducing alkyl segments, so-called "carbon spacers". These act as linking segments, covalently bonding the nanotubes and nylon chains, improving both the toughness of the material and the strength, the researchers say.

Previous attempts to create a carbon nanotube/nylon...

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