Effects of Carbon Nanotubes Geometrical Distribution on Electrical Percolation of Nanocomposites: A Comprehensive Approach

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to study the effects of length, alignment and diameter distribution of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the percolation threshold of nanocomposites using computational simulations. Furthermore, the effects of the aforementioned parameters on the efficiency of the produced networks are investigated. The best distribution for optimum connectivity and the lowest CNTs concentration for the onset of percolation is determined via analyzing the geometrical characteristics of carbon nanotubes. The critical volume fraction of CNTs for percolation was found to be 0.1% while the mean number of bonds per object was 1.3 at the best distribution condition. The results from this study are compared to available experimental data and good agreement was found.