Interfacial design of carbon nanotube polymer composites: A hybrid system of noncovalent and covalent functionalizations

Homogeneous dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) throughout the polymer matrix and their adequate interfacial bonding are critical for load transfer in CNT-polymer composites. However, both cannot be realized simultaneously by either covalent or noncovalent functionalization. A hybrid system integrating both covalent and noncovalent functionalizations is presented for interfacial design of CNT-polymer composites. To investigate the feasibility of this system, examples of the epoxidized single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) subsequently wrapped by poly(m-phenylenevinylene- co-2,5-dioctyloxy-p-phenylenevinylene) (PmPV) are studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown by our results that PmPV molecules are miscible with epoxy resin and tend to wrap around the epoxidized SWNT, which could be used to weaken the interaction between SWNTs and consequently improve the dispersion of SWNTs into the matrix. The interfacial shear strength of CNT-polymer composites can be improved significantly by properly designed functionalizations, especially the hybrid system.