Modeling Composites of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in Polycarbonate

TL;DR

This study models the impact and static mechanical behavior of polycarbonate composites reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes, identifying an optimal nanotube concentration for maximum stress resistance and developing a Lennard-Jones potential-based model.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized model for MWCNT-polycarbonate composites under static and dynamic loads, highlighting the optimal nanotube composition for enhanced mechanical properties.

Findings

Maximum impact resistance at 2.1% MWCNTs

Significant property deterioration below and above threshold composition

A Lennard-Jones potential-based model for static properties

Abstract

High strain rate experiments performed on multi-walled carbon nanotubes and polycarbonate composites (MWCNT-PC) have exhibited enhanced impact resistance under a dynamic strain rate of nearly 2500/s with composition of only 0.5 to 2.0 percent of Multi walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) in pure polycarbonate(PC). Similarly, hardness and elastic modulus under static loads resulted in significant increase depending upon the composition of MWCNTs in PC.The present work aims to analyze these results by correlating the data to fit expressions in generalizing the behavior of MWCNTs composition for MWCNT-PC composites under both static and impact loads. As a result we found that an optimum composition of 2.1 percent of MWCNTs exhibits maximum stress resistance within elastic range under strain rates of nearly 2500/s for MWCNT-PC composites.The results are critically dependent on the composition of MWCNTs and significantly deteriorate below and above a threshold composition. A simple model based on Lennard-Jones atom-atom based potential is formulated to compute static properties of pure as well as composites of PC.