Decoration of carbon nanotubes with silver nanoparticles for advanced CNT/polymer nanocomposites

We have successfully decorated carbon nanotubes with silver (Ag–CNTs) using N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a reductant. The Ag–CNTs were charactered by TGA, XRD, TEM and Raman spectra to confirm that silver nanoparticles were uniformly decorated onto the CNTs. Then the Ag–CNTs were used as fillers to prepare the nanocomposites with two polymers: polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) by means of two different methods: i.e. melt compounding and solution mixing, respectively. The results showed that the Ag–CNTs could effectively improve the electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of PP and PS as compared to pristine CNTs. It was found that the solution mixing was better than the melt mixing in terms of dispersion of CNTs and electrical conductivity. The mechanisms for the results have been discussed.