Nanoporous Structure and Enhanced Thermal Stability of a Polyimide/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composite

Gerard T. Caneba

Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Environmentally Benign Functional Materials, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931.

DOI: 10.4236/jmmce.2009.81002                

Abstract

Polymer composites based on polyimides and single-walled carbon nanotubes are of interest in space and aerospace industries, due to inherent thermal stabilities as thermal/electrical conductivities of the components. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to disperse the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into the polyimide matrix. This work attempts this by predispersion of the CNTs in the precursor reactive materials, and then polymerization is carried out with the CNTs in place. When this is done, some unusual behavior has been observed, such as the formation of nanoporous composite structure and enhanced thermal stability of the products.

Keywords

Polyimide, Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes, HiPco, nanoporous structure, thermally stable polymer composite

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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