Facile fabrication of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and its enhancement on thermally conductive adhesive applied in heat dissipation devices

A facile synthetic scheme of amine-grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using silane coupling agent has been illustrated, which has not been reported in literature. The fabricated MWCNTs were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron micrograph (FESEM). The results indicate that the amine groups have been grafted onto the surface of MWCNTs and symmetry of MWCNTs was not destroyed, simultaneously, they generated such large polar forces among nanotubes that they formed close-packed structure. Also, they were well dispersed in resin matrix and their distribution was relatively homogenous because there was less nanotubes pulled out on the fracture surface. The thermal analysis was taken for investigation of the thermal stability and thermal decomposition behavior. The comparative analysis proved the existence of amine groups and its total weight of 11 wt.%. The efficient interaction between amine grafted MWCNTs enhanced the crosslink density and the values of glass transition temperature which confirmed the efficient compatibility with resin matrix.