Flexible electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride nanofibrous composites with high electrical conductivity and good mechanical properties by employing ultrasonication induced dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

This paper reports a facile method of fabricating high conductivity and good mechanical properties of ployvinylidene fluoride/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PVDF/MWNTs) nanofibrous composites by an ultrasonication anchoring technique. Microstructures, electrical conductivity, mechanical and thermal properties of the PVDF/MWNTs nanofibrous composites were studied. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the MWNTs were uniformly anchored onto the surface and interspace of PVDF nanofibrous composites and the conductive network structures were easily formed. The PVDF/MWNTs nanofibrous composites exhibited excellent conductivity of 10−2 S m−1 with 3.91 wt% MWNTs anchored. This work opens a new path to optimize the conductivity of thermoplastic polymer nanocomposites with a wide range of application in the field of electronic and electrical engineering.