The direct dispersion of granular agglomerated carbon nanotubes in bismaleimide by high pressure homogenization for the production of strong composites

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been mass produced and widely used as fillers for advanced supercapacitor/battery electrodes and lightweight high-strength composites. Well dispersion of CNTs in the matrix is a key issue to achieve high performance composites. Developing an easy and efficient strategy to disperse CNTs in a resource-saving and environmentally benign way, especially for agglomerated CNTs, is a great challenge. Mass produced ductile and resilient multi-walled CNTs were dispersed in bismaleimide (BMI) resin by a simple high pressure homogenization process. A CNT/BMI composite with a CNT content as high as 38 wt.% was fabricated under high pressure (240 MPa) during thermal curing. The compression modulus and hardness of the composite approach to 8.5 and 0.58 GPa, corresponding to a 28.9% and 44.0% improvement compared to neat BMI resin, respectively, which reveals the feasibility of such CNTs as fillers for strong composites. This text provides a simple, efficient, and economic powder technology to directly disperse granular CNTs in matrix for advanced composites.