Nonlinear electrical conducting behavior of carbon nanotube networks in silicone elastomer

In this work the authors investigated the electrical conducting properties of multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) networks in the flexible polydimethylsiloxane rubber as a function of applied voltages. The results indicated that the I-V curves showed nonlinear relationships, which can be fitted to quadratic functions. The electrical resistance of the samples varies with the voltages more sharply in lower range. The nonlinear mechanism was related to the materials system including both the MWNTs and the matrix material. Furthermore, the I-V characteristic of the MWNT network/ZnO nanocomposite layer junction has shown a well rectified behavior at low voltages. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.