Static and dynamic mechanical properties of polydimethylsiloxane/carbon nanotube nanocomposites

The purpose of this study is to investigate the static and dynamic mechanical properties of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and the mixture of PDMS and carbon nanotubes. The PDMS/CNT nanocomposites were stirred by an ultrasonic instrument to prevent agglomerations. The tested specimens of nanocomposites were manufactured by using the thermoforming method at 150 degrees C for 15 min. A micro tensile tester was adopted in this testing system with a maximum load of 500 mN and a crosshead extension of 150 mm. The static elastic modulus can be calculated by means of a tensile test and the average elastic modulus of pure PDMS is 1.65 MPa. In addition, the Nano Bionix tensile tester was also used to perform the dynamic mechanical analysis. Its dynamic frequency range is from 0.1 Hz to 2.5 KHz. The dynamic properties of PDMS/CNT nanocomposites such as storage and loss modulus can be obtained by this system. The storage modulus increased with the CNT content and also with the higher frequencies. Finally, the nanoindentation measurement system was employed to characterize the mechanical properties of PDMS and PDMS/CNTs. The measurement results of elastic modulus by a nanoindentation test have the similar trend with the results obtained by the tensile test method. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.