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Electrical transport measurements of highly conductive nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes/poly(bisphenol A carbonate) composites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Jamal A. Talla*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Donghui Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70803
Seamus A. Curran
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: jtalla@kfu.edu.sa
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Abstract

Nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes with poly(bisphenol A carbonate) composites were prepared through simple solution blending. The scaling law, which is based on the percolation theory, is used to describe the electrical conductivities of the composites. Both direct current and alternating current conductivities are in good agreement with the unprecedented high saturated conductivities of the pristine samples (σsat = ∼734 s·cm−1, pc = 0.19 wt%). We attributed the high conductivities to the binding of nanotubes into large but tight bundles, which enable the composites to carry more charges. This is notably different from the conventional method, which focuses on forming a well-dispersed three-dimensional network resulting in the conductivities having a lower order of magnitude.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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