Significantly Improving Electromagnetic Performance Of Nanopaper And Its Shape-Memory Nanocomposite By Aligned Carbon Nanotubes

A new nanopaper that exhibits exciting electrical and electromagnetic performances is fabricated by incorporating magnetically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) with carbon nanofibers (CNFs). Electromagnetic CNTs were blended with and aligned into the nanopaper using a magnetic field, to significantly improve the electrical and electromagnetic performances of nanopaper and its enabled shape-memory polymer (SMP) composite. The morphology and structure of the aligned CNT arrays in nanopaper were characterized with scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). A continuous and compact network of CNFs and aligned CNTs indicated that the nanopaper could have highly conductive properties. Furthermore, the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding efficiency of the SMP composites with different weight content of aligned CNT arrays was characterized. Finally, the aligned CNT arrays in nanopapers were employed to achieve the electrical actuation and accelerate the recovery speed of SMP composites. © 2012 SPIE