2 June, 2014, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Alexander Bezrodny (vice president, R&D OCSiAl) took part in Poster Session during The Fifteenth International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes .
"For novel applications of carbon nanotubes, their quality and properties are crucial, - says Alexander, - In our study, we have compared the influence of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), graphene tubes) and multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) added in small amounts into some epoxy compounds on the electrical conductivity, with the commercially available SWCNT produced by OCSiAl (TUBALL) being used. SWCNT were used as produced without further purification. The “as-produced” material contained less than 10% of inorganic impurities and more than 75% of SWCNT. Concentration of SWCNT as low as 0.0001% was enough to obtain the conductivity well above percolation threshold (10-6 S/cm). The same conductivity could be obtained by the use of MWCNT at much higher concentrations, above 0.01% .
It is well known that CNT can be used to produce conductive coating on the
surface of polymer film. The properties of such conductive films depend on the
quality of CNT used. We have prepared conductive films on the PET surface by
the use of spray coating. The film made of SWCNT had the resistance about 110
Om/sq., while transmittance was above 90% at 550 nm. We compared it to the film
made of commercially available MWCNTs. Its resistance was from 10 to 100 times
higher at about the same transmittance. The superior characteristics of the
conductive films made of SWCNT TUBALL make them useful for such applications as
touch screens, solar cells and smart windows
."