A convenient route for the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in polymers: Application to the preparation of electromagnetic interference (EMI) absorbers

A new dispersion technique has been implemented which consists in the polymerization of a monomer in the presence of CNTs in a bad solvent of the polymer. During its formation, the polymer precipitates and entraps all the CNTs. Thanks to the establishment of a suitable CNTs dispersion, this method promotes much higher electrical conductivity in the resulting nanocomposite than more conventional techniques, i.e. melt-mixing and co-precipitation. Moreover, the quantity of solvent required is much lower than in the co-precipitation method that makes this process industrially viable. One potential application of these nanocomposites has been demonstrated by the preparation of foams using the supercritical CO2 technology that present very high electromagnetic interference (EMI) absorbing properties since more than 90% of the incoming power being absorbed in the foam. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.