Elaboration, Characterization and Modeling of Electroactive Materials Based on Polyurethanes and Grafted Carbon Nanotubes
Author | : Mohamed Hedi Jomaa |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 169 |
Release | : 2020 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : |
Download Elaboration, Characterization and Modeling of Electroactive Materials Based on Polyurethanes and Grafted Carbon Nanotubes Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle
Harvesting systems capable of transforming dusty environmental energy into electrical energy have attracted considerable interest throughout the last decade. Several research efforts have focused on the transformation of the mechanical vibration into electrical energy. Most of these research activities deal with classical piezoelectric ceramic materials, but more recently, a promising new type of materials is represented by electroactive polymers (EAPs). Among the various EAPs, polyurethane (PU) elastomers are of great interest due to the significant electrical-field strains, and due to their attractive and useful properties such as flexibility, light weight, high chemical and abrasion resistance, high mechanical strength and easy processing to large area films as well as their ability to be molded into various shapes and biocompatibility with blood and tissues. In addition, it has recently been shown that the incorporation into a PU matrix of nanofillers, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), can greatly enhance the expected strain, or the harvested energy. However, it is well known that CNTs are hardly dispersed in a polymeric matrix, and that the interfacial adhesion strength is generally poor. An effective method to improves both dispersion and adhesion may consist in functionalizing CNTs by grafting polymer chains onto their surfaces. The main objective of this thesis was to develop high-efficiency polymers nanocomposites for harvesting energy and actuation. The key motivation was to use polymer-grafted CNTs to improve dispersion, interfacial adhesion in PU, and understand how this can change the electroactive properties of the PU/CNT nanocomposites. In other words, it was a pluridisciplinary project including an optimization of the elaboration process, physical characterizations ˗ including microstructural, electrical and mechanical behaviors in a wide range of frequencies and temperatures ˗ and the determination of the electroactive properties. A comprehensive study was then carried out first on pure PU to understand how their electroactive properties depend on their microstructure, and then on the nanocomposites to understand how the incorporation of functionalized CNT can improve the electromechanical properties.