Fabrication and Characterization of Chitin-Carbon Nanotube Composites

Most polymers by themselves have limitations due to their poor mechanical, thermal and electrical properties compared with metallic and ceramic materials. Therefore, to expand their range of applications these properties must be enhanced. In particular polymer matrix composites are attractive because of their low cost, high tensile strength, high stiffness, and good corrosion resistance. The present study focuses on the fabrication of low cost chitin films reinforced with multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This composite has potential usage as aerospace structural parts and components. An additional benefit of this composite is that more of the 50% of this composite is biodegradable, which makes it desirable for environmental issues. Another potential application could be as constituent of hybrid composite parts where the deposition of various metallic thin films allows its use in detectors and microactuators. To fabricate these composites, CNTs were dispersed and incorporated into the chitin solution. Different dispersion methods were tested, including ball milling, ultrasonic bath and an ultrasonic probe. The films were characterized with scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and thermomechanical analysis. As expected, preliminary results showed that chitin films reinforced with CNT have superior mechanical strength compared to bare chitin films.