Development of carbonnanofibers based polymer nanocomposites for printableconductive ink applications

Abstract

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are the state-of-the-art materials owing to their special morphological features for use in the fields of various potential applications. For the development and casting of printable inks, CNF is the fundamental material that has shown enhanced electrical and mechanical properties. CNF being highly reactive carbon nanomaterial filler therefore forms polymer nanocomposites beyond its complexity. The morphology of CNF offers multiple binding sites for attachment of functional groups thus making it aqueous soluble. These modified CNF become suitable as a filler material for polymer nanocomposites. newlineThe modified CNF has been used as a filler material in Polyaniline (PANI) based polymer nanocomposite to study the electrical properties. Here, the polymer nanocomposites were prepared at low temperatures 0 and#9702;C to 5 and#9702;C via in-situ polymerization approach. The mechanical, as well as printable properties have been studied by combining the CNF with PVP (Polyvinylpyrrolidone) polymer. The most important characteristic is its ability to sustain the mechanical disorders after reproduction on the substrate. The dispersion of hydrophobic CNF in the presence of PVP polymer has been achieved by a non-covalent functionalization approach. In this work, for the preparation of smooth ink, it is necessary to disperse the polymer nanocomposite well in an aqueous medium. Hence PVP helps in this process to develop a clog-free ink. On the other hand, the best ink formulation has been made by focusing on some specifications like viscosity, surface tension, and dispersion. In the end, the formulated ink has been cast on the glass substrate to check the mechanical performance by studying the compressive strength and conducting the nano-indentation study. The crucial need of any nanocomposite is to be mechanically durable. Hence, mechanically stable printed formulation of ink has been developed and characterized using different methods. newline