Polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotube composites for structural vibration damping and strain sensing
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Polyaniline (PANI)/11% Multi-carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) nanocomposites sensors were synthesized through an in situ polymerization method. Frits compression method was adopted to make PANI/MWCNT. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) tests results showed that this technique produced a coating of PANI onto the MWCNT, which indicated that CNT were well dispersed in the polymer matrix. Several tests were run to evaluate the sensor’s capabilities. The free end vibration test results showed that the double sided attachment of the sensor had higher damping ratio values than single sided attachment. Also, damping ratios were higher when the sensor was placed at the clamped end. Further, the strain sensing properties of PANI/MWCNT sensors were compared with the conventional foil strain gage. The dynamic sensing test results showed that over the range of 10–1000 Hz, the PANI/MWCNT composite sensor was consistently superior to the traditional foil strain gage for sensing purposes. Weiwei Lin is a PhD student of Florida International University, major in materials engineering. She is right now working on the multifunctional materials with both damping properties and strain sensing properties. Contact number: 305-450-8968.
Weiwei Lin
I. INTRODUCTION
Multifunctional materials are necessarily composite materials, and the strong growth in the use of composites has been greatly influenced by multifunctional design requirements. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have attracted much attention since their discovery in 1991 due to their unique mechanical and electronic properties.1 Addition of carbon nanotube enhances the properties of polymer even at very low concentrations due to their large aspect ratio and ultra-high conductivity.2 These CNT based polymer composites have potential uses in many fields, such as strain sensors, damping augmentation, super capacitors, electromagnetic radiation shield coatings, and actuators.3–7 Polyaniline (PANI) was discovered over 150 years ago; however, only since the early 1980s has PANI Contributing Editor: Sarah Morgan a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: levyez@fiu.edu DOI: 10.1557/jmr.2016.361
captured the intense attention of the scientific community mainly due to the rediscovery of its high electrical conductivity.8 Also, PANI is the cheapest polymer among its conducting polymer family, which has a rich chemistry. Narayanankutty2 research group found that the well-dispersed filler in functional MWCNT-PANI/ thermoplastic urethane (TPU) composites improved strain sensitivity. They stated that the coating of PANI on functional MWCNT reduced its entanglement and enhanced the interfacial interaction between the nano fillers and TPU, leading to improved strain sensitivity. Other investigators9–11 also showed that PANI composites have superior strain sensitive properties. MWCNT films have been demonstrated to show the capability of being strain sensors.12,13 Also, theoretical analysis showed that the addition of CNTs into a polymer matrix can improve the damp
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