Abstract
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), with light weight, high strength, good thermal and electrical properties, were used as reinforcements in the polymer composites. In this paper, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were used to reinforce the epoxy resin. N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent was added to improve the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in the nanocomposites. Different weight percentages of MWNTs were added into the MWNTs/epoxy nanocomposites with or without NMP and the mechanical property of the nanocomposites, such as tensile strength, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio, were measured. The results show that the mechanical property of nanocomposites became weaker after adding NMP solvent in epoxy. The surface resistance of the nanocomposites with different weight percentages of MWNTs was also investigated. The surface resistance decreased for higher percentage of MWNTs in the nanocomposites due to more carbon nanotubes networks. The surface resistance decreased about 6 orders of magnitude when adding 2 wt% of MWNTs in the nanocomposites. Morphologies of the fracture surface of MWNTs/epoxy nanocomposites were observed by scanning electron microscope.