Electrically conductive and light-weight branched polylactic acid-based carbon nanotube foams

In spite of the high electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube (CNT), its tendency to aggregate and expensive cost in fabricating aerogel, foams, and porous materials remains a problem. Therefore, we described a simple and feasible way to design light-weight, high electrically conductive, and cost-efficient polylactic acid (PLA)/CNT foams. The branched PLA (BPLA) resin with excellent melt elasticity and foamability was induced by nucleophilic ring-opening reaction of epoxy-based acrylic/styrene copolymer and PLA. After that, BPLA/CNT composites and foams were prepared by melt-mixing and supercritical carbon dioxide foaming technology, respectively. The thermal, electrical, and foaming properties were studied. The resultant BPLA/CNT foam possessed a low density of 0.174 g/cm(3) and high crystallinity of 3.03%. An improvement of the oriented structure of CNT induced by cell growth in BPLA matrix increased the conductivity of the foam up to 3.51 x 10(4) Omega/m. The proposed foaming materials provided a way for designing and preparing high performance CNT products.

Automated summary

A simple and feasible method was described to design lightweight, highly electrically conductive, and cost-efficient PLA/CNT foams, using nucleophilic ring-opening reaction of epoxy-based acrylic/styrene copolymer and PLA to induce branched PLA resin. The resulting foam had low density, high crystallinity, and improved conductivity due to enhanced CNT orientation induced by cell growth in the BPLA matrix. This proposed foaming material provides a way for designing and preparing high-performance CNT products.