Multi-walled carbon nanotube induced co-continuity of poly(ether ether ketone)/polyimide blends for high performance conductive materials

Abstract

A high performance conductive material with excellent mechanical and thermal properties was prepared by melt-blending, and its performance was adjusted by controlling the selective location of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK)/thermoplastic polyimide (TPI) matrix. With increasing content of MWCNTs, the morphology of the PEEK/TPI blends was changed from typical sea-island morphology to a co-continuous structure, which was due to the selective location of MWCNTs in the TPI phase. Notably, the electrical percolation threshold was reduced to as low as 0.6 wt% due to the selective distribution of MWCNTs in the induced co-continuous PEEK/TPI structure, which is the lowest value reported for PEEK-based MWCNTs composites. Moreover, the introduction of MWCNTs could improve the dynamic mechanical properties and thermal stability of the PEEK/TPI blend effectively.