Experimental Investigation of The Effects of Different Dispersion Techniques on The Electromechanical Properties of Electrospun Carbon Nanotube/ Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanocomposites

Abstract

In this study, a detailed investigation on the influence of different dispersion methods that are magnetic stirring (MK), ultrasonic bath (UB), and ultrasonication (S) of the electrospun CNTs/ TPU nanocomposite on their morphological and electromechanical properties was conducted. Obtained results suggest that the dispersion method of the CNTs plays a significant role in their physical electromechanical and sensory properties tremendously. Microscopic investigations show that ultrasonicated samples give better dispersed fibrous structures owing to the positive effect of the ultrasonic force. It is also seen that especially for the S-samples, by addition of CNTs to the TPU solution conductivity increases almost 10 times which is attributed to the better dispersion of the fibrous structure. From the mechanical tests, it was observed that the elongation at break in S-samples increased by 31.6%, and the tensile strength increased by approximately 56% compared to MK-samples. Subsequently, from the tensile strain test, it is observed that all probes give strain-sensitive responses in two linear regions and S-samples are the most sensitive among others that are due to higher total amount of nanofiber networks. All the results prove that the importance of good CNTs dispersion that affects not only physical properties but also their electromechanical and sensory properties. Results obtained from this study can shed a light on the importance of controlling the dispersion of the CNTs for fabricating highly sensitive, flexible strain sensors through electrospinning technology.

Keywords

• Carbon nanotube
• Elektrospinning
• Strain sensor
• Thermoplastic polyurethane
• Nanocomposite

Farklı Dispersiyon Tekniklerinin Elektroeğirilmiş Karbon Nanotüp/ Termoplastik Poliüretan Nanokompozitlerin Elektromekanik Özelliklerine Etkisinin Deneysel İncelenmesi

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, elektroeğirilmiş karbon nanotüp (KNT)/ termoplastik poliüretan (TPU) nanokompozitinin manyetik karıştırma (MK), ultrasonik banyo (UB) ve ultrasonikasyon (S) gibi farklı dispersiyon yöntemlerinin morfolojik ve elektromekanik özellikleri üzerindeki etkisi hakkında detaylı bir araştırma yapılmıştır. Elde edilen sonuçlar KNT’de uygulanan dispersiyon yönteminin, numunelerin fiziksel, elektromekanik ve sensör özelliklerinde çok önemli bir rol oynadığını göstermektedir. Mikroskobik incelemeler, ultrasonik kuvvetin pozitif etkisi sayesinde S numunelerin daha iyi dağılmış lifli yapılar verdiğini göstermektedir. Ayrıca özellikle S-örneklerinde, TPU çözeltisine KNT'lerin eklenmesiyle iletkenliğin lifli yapının daha iyi dağılmasına bağlı olarak yaklaşık 10 kat arttığı görülmüştür. Mekanik testlerden S numunelerinde kopma uzamasının MK numunelerine göre %31.6 ve çekme dayanımının ise yaklaşık %56 arttığı gözlemlenmiştir. Bunun yanında, çekme gerinim testinden, tüm numunelerin iki lineer bölgede gerinime duyarlı tepkiler verdiği ve S numunelerinde MK ve UB numunelerine oranla daha yüksek sayıdaki nanofiber ağlardan dolayı daha hassas tepki verdiği görülmüştür. Elde edilen sonuçlar KNT dispersiyon tekniğinin, numunelerin sadece fiziksel özellikleri değil, aynı zamanda elektromekanik ve sensör özelliklerini de ciddi oranda etkilediğini gösterirken özellikle yüksek hassasiyetli, esnek gerinim sensörleri üretiminde KNT'lerin dağılımını kontrol etmenin önemine dair yeni bakış açıları kazandırmaktadır.

Keywords

• Karbon nanotüp
• Elektroeğirme
• Gerinim sensörü
• Termoplastik poliüretan
• Nanokompozit

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