Effect of carbon nanotube alignment and length on the electrical conductivity and piezoresistivity of CNT/PMMA composites

The effect of the length of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the electrical properties of MWCNT/polymer composites is investigated. A methodology based on controlled ultrasonic fragmentation was implemented to systematically reduce the length of the MWCNTs, supported by scanning electron microscopy and length measurements. The as-received and fragmented MWCNTs were used to fabricate MWCNT/polymethyl methacrylate composites, evaluating the effect of such a fragmentation in the resulting electrical conductivity of the composites. The effect of length-shortening and carbon nanotube alignment on the piezoresistive properties of such composites is an ongoing work which will be presented at the conference.