Comparison of the effective conductivity between composites reinforced by graphene nanosheets and carbon nanotubes

Both graphene nanosheets and carbon nanotubes have exceptional electric and thermal conductivities, rendering them excellent candidates as second-phase fillers in composite materials to substantially enhance their effective conductivities. Their markedly different geometries, however, can have significant effect on the effective conductivities of composites, which we investigate using an effective medium approximation. It is demonstrated that graphene nanosheet is more effective in conductivity enhancement than carbon nantubes, and both fillers lead to substantially higher conductivity and much reduced percolation threshold in composites. The effects of conductivity anisotropy and interfacial resistance are also discussed.

[1]  Johan Nilsson,et al.  Electronic properties of graphene multilayers. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[2]  Qiming Zhang,et al.  Colossal dielectric and electromechanical responses in self-assembled polymeric nanocomposites , 2005 .

[3]  C. H. Seager,et al.  Percolation and conductivity: A computer study. II , 1974 .

[4]  Werner J. Blau,et al.  Percolation-dominated conductivity in a conjugated-polymer-carbon-nanotube composite , 1998 .

[5]  Jiangyu Li,et al.  Electromagnetic fields induced in a uniaxial multiferroic material by a point source or an ellipsoidal inclusion , 2006 .

[6]  S. Stankovich,et al.  Graphene-based composite materials , 2006, Nature.

[7]  Tungyang Chen,et al.  Effect of Kapitza contact and consideration of tube-end transport on the effective conductivity in nanotube-based composites , 2005 .

[8]  Dimitris C. Lagoudas,et al.  Micromechanical analysis of the effective elastic properties of carbon nanotube reinforced composites , 2006 .

[9]  Qiming Zhang,et al.  Enhanced electromechanical properties in all-polymer percolative composites , 2004 .

[10]  Quanshui Zheng,et al.  Effects of anisotropy, aspect ratio, and nonstraightness of carbon nanotubes on thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube composites , 2007 .

[11]  Isaac Balberg,et al.  Percolation thresholds in the three-dimensional sticks system , 1984 .

[12]  Stephen Ducharme,et al.  Electric energy density of dielectric nanocomposites , 2007 .

[13]  Cheng Huang,et al.  Microstructure and Electromechanical Properties of Carbon Nanotube/ Poly(vinylidene fluoride—trifluoroethylene—chlorofluoroethylene) Composites , 2005 .

[14]  A. Rinzler,et al.  Highly Conducting Carbon Nanotube/Polyethyleneimine Composite Fibers , 2005 .

[15]  R. Pober,et al.  Nanotubes in liquids : Effective thermal conductivity , 2006 .

[16]  Andre K. Geim,et al.  Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films , 2004, Science.

[17]  Z. Dang,et al.  Influence of aspect ratio of carbon nanotube on percolation threshold in ferroelectric polymer nanocomposite , 2007 .

[18]  Yuanhua Lin,et al.  Interface effect on thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube composites , 2004 .

[19]  Yi Yin,et al.  Giant Dielectric Permittivities in Functionalized Carbon-Nanotube/ Electroactive-Polymer Nanocomposites† , 2007 .

[20]  Arjun G. Yodh,et al.  Thermal conductivity and interfacial resistance in single-wall carbon nanotube epoxy composites , 2005 .

[21]  A. Geim,et al.  Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in graphene , 2005, Nature.

[22]  C. N. Lau,et al.  Superior thermal conductivity of single-layer graphene. , 2008, Nano letters.

[23]  Klaus Kern,et al.  Electronic transport properties of individual chemically reduced graphene oxide sheets. , 2007, Nano letters.

[24]  Zexiang Shen,et al.  Electronic transport and layer engineering in multilayer graphene structures , 2008 .

[25]  H. V. D. Zant,et al.  Nanomechanical properties of few-layer graphene membranes , 2008, 0802.0413.

[26]  S. Stankovich,et al.  Graphene-silica composite thin films as transparent conductors. , 2007, Nano letters.

[27]  B. Garnier,et al.  Thermal properties and percolation in carbon nanotube-polymer composites , 2007 .