Physical properties of novel free-standing polymer–nanotube thin films

Novel polymer–nanotube composites have been fabricated by the introduction of polymeric material into the free volume contained in carbon nanotube (CNT) mats grown by chemical vapour deposition. The resulting composite material can then be peeled from the substrate to give a free-standing film, the properties of which are controlled by the nanotubes. The nanotube mat acts as a percolative network resulting in increases in surface and bulk conductivities by factors of 107 and 108, respectively. The presence of CNTs also causes the Young’s Modulus of the polymer film to double. It is shown that the presence of CNTs has no effect on the morphology of the polymer itself.