Study on carbon nanotube dispersion behavior in epoxy resin under synergistic effect of continuous stretching flow and ultrasound oscillation

In this paper, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersion behavior in epoxy resin under synergistic effect of continuous stretching flow and ultrasound oscillation was studied. A small continuous stretching machine which could provide continuous stretching flow for polymer was designed and manufactured for studying the synergistic effect of continuous stretching flow and ultrasound oscillation on dispersive property. Firstly, the influence of different initial phase angle of dual rotor and mixing time on dispersive property were studied by preparing specimens of CNTs/epoxy resin composite under continuous stretching machine. Then, the synergistic effect of continuous stretching flow and ultrasound oscillation on dispersive property was studied with various ultrasonic power and synergistic time. In this study, the morphology of blends was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that initial phase angle of dual rotor and mixing time had great effect on the dispersion of CNTs in epoxy resin. The degree of CNTs dispersion was best when the initial phase angle of dual rotor was 0°, and increasing mixing time could improve the degree of CNTs dispersion. Increasing ultrasonic power and synergistic time were helpful to disperse CNTs in epoxy resin. It demonstrated that the synergistic effect of continuous stretching flow and ultrasound oscillation had obviously effect on the dispersion of CNTs.