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Filament stretching of carbon nanotube suspensions

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Abstract

This paper reports the application of a recently developed filament stretching protocol for the study of the extensional rheology of both treated and untreated carbon nanotubes (CNT) suspended within an epoxy resin. It was experimentally observed that filaments formed by treated and untreated CNT suspensions behaved differently after initial stretching. The filament thinning process of the base epoxy was consistent with a simple Newtonian fluid, whilst the filament of treated CNT suspensions also thinned in a Newtonian way but with an enhanced extensional viscosity. Filaments formed with untreated CNT suspensions behaved in a non-uniform way with local fluctuation in filament diameter, and it was not possible to obtain reliable extensional viscosity data. Irregularity of the untreated CNT filaments was consistent with coupled optical images, where spatial variation in CNT aggregate concentration was observed. In the case of treated CNT suspensions, the enhanced extensional viscosity was modelled in terms of the alignment of CNTs in the stretching direction, and the degree of alignment was subsequently estimated using a simple orientation model.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Prof. A. H. Windle and the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge for providing the multi-walled CNTs and Nanocomposites for providing the single-walled CNTs. Anson Ma would also like to thank the Croucher Foundation Scholarship and the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme (ORSAS) for providing financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge, New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, UK

    Anson W. K. Ma, Tri Tuladhar & Malcolm R. Mackley

  2. Laboratoire de Mécanique des Systémes et des Procédés, UMR 8106 CNRS-ENSAM-ESEM, 151 Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75013, Paris, France

    Francisco Chinesta

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  1. Anson W. K. Ma
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  2. Francisco Chinesta
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  3. Tri Tuladhar
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  4. Malcolm R. Mackley
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Correspondence to Malcolm R. Mackley.

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Ma, A.W.K., Chinesta, F., Tuladhar, T. et al. Filament stretching of carbon nanotube suspensions. Rheol Acta 47, 447–457 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-007-0247-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-007-0247-y

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