Simplified Identification of Compounding Ratio and Dispersion of Carbon Nano-tube / Polymer Composite Material

In order to obtain the physical property of polypropylene and vapor growth carbon fiber (VGCF) composite material, a newly invented contact probe structure, named a C-probe, is proposed for the measurement of capacitance. The present method utilizes the difference in capacitance of the composite material depending on the VGCF concentration. The C-probe contacted to the surface of the measuring object measures the resonance frequency between the electrodes arranged on a plane (i.e., a one sided structure). In comparison with the conventional capacitor method, in which the specimen is clamped between the electrodes (i.e., double sided structure), the C-probe has many advantages because it makes measurement easy and non-destructive measurement. The experimental result shows a good relationship between the compounding ratio and the resonance frequency. By decreasing the dimension of the C-probe less than that of the composite specimen, the dispersion of mixture into the composite material was also identified successfully.