Rheology of electrostatically tethered nanoplatelets and multi-walled carbon nanotubes in epoxy

Co-dispersing ZrP nanoplatelets and multi-walled carbon nanotubes into a brittle epoxy results in a tremendous improvement in mechanical properties, particularly strength and ductility that cannot be attributed to either individual nanoparticle. The rheological investigation presented here shows that the ZrP nanoplatelets behave as a solid dispersant to disentangle and stabilize the MWCNTs, and serve as nanoscale tethers to interconnect the dispersed MWCNTs in a cohesive network. We propose that it is this network that is responsible for the unusual strengthening effect.373