Mechanical, electrical, piezoelectric and electro-active behavior of aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube/cellulose composites

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were covalently grafted to cellulose to make an MWCNT/cellulose (M/C) composite. Aligned M/C composite was obtained by mechanical stretching process. The stretching effect was demonstrated by observing morphology as well as measuring mechanical, electrical and piezoelectric properties of the M/C composite. The influence of aligned MWCNTs on the actuator performance of the M/C composite was evaluated in terms of bending displacement and resonance frequency depending on the stretching ratio and environmental humidity level. The aligned MWCNTs contributed to remarkably enhancing the mechanical and piezoelectric properties, but also improving actuator performance of the M/C composite.

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► MWCNTs covalently grafted to cellulose are aligned by mechanical stretching.
► Aligned MWCNTs contributes to enhancing its material property of the M/C composite.
► Dipolar alignment of MWCNTs leads to strong piezoelectric response of the M/C composite.
► Enhanced piezoelectric response and the material property improve the bending actuator performance.