Journal of Encapsulation and Adsorption Sciences, 2012, 2, 69-78 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jeas.2012.24010 Published Online December 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jeas) Dispersion and Performance Properties of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) Based Polymer Composites: A Review Bhagwan F. Jogi, Mayur Sawant, Madan Kulkarni, Prakash K. Brahmankar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, India Email: bfjogi@dbatu.ac.in, bfjogi@yahoo.com Received August 5, 2012; revised September 23, 2012; accepted October 17, 2012 ABSTRACT Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based polymer composites have variety of engineering applications (electromagnetic shield- ing, antistatic coatings, high-strength low-density corrosion-resistant components, lightweight energy storage and many more); due to their excellent mechanical, electrical, chemical, magnetic, etc. properties. In the polymer nanocomposites CNTs are dispersed in the polymeric matrix. However the dispersion may be uniform or may not be uniform. The big- gest challenge is the effective dispersion of individual CNTs in the polymer matrices, as CNTs tends to form clusters and bundles due to strong van der Waals’ forces of attraction. The aggregated structure continue until physical (Me- chanical) or chemical modification (Encapsulation/surface modification) of CNTs. Few modification methods such as vigorous mixing of the polymers damages CNTs structure, and may hinder their properties. But these problems can be overcome by mechanical or chemical modification of CNTs surfaces. In the chemical modification, the modifier or the long tail surfactant may encapsulate and/or partially wrap the CNTs surfaces. In this review, recent work on CNTs based polymer nanocomposite is carried out with few modifiers/encapsulating agents. Incorporation of CNTs in poly- mer matrix changes the performance properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, toughness, Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), etc. The phase morphology of the composite materials throws light on the properties of CNTs based polymer nanocomposite. Moreover phase morphology may be directly correlated with the behavior of the material, hence reviewed here through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore review is also carried out on the non-isothermal crystallization (DSC) and rheology of CNTs polymer nanocomposite. Keywords: Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs); Encapsulation/Surface Modification; Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM); Mechanical Properties; Crystallization 1. Introduction Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based polymer matrices cre- ates a class of novel materials (nanocomposites) exhibit- ing superior mechanical, thermal, electrical and barrier properties suitable to replace many existing materials for engineering applications. In this context, use of CNTs in polymer matrices has gained considerable attention in the scientific and industrial community due to the possibility to utilize the unique (mechanical, thermal and electrical) properties of CNTs [1-4]. CNTs based polymer nano- composites possess high stiffness, high strength and good electrical conductivity at relatively low concentrations of CNTs [5-8]. Various studies involving on single wall carbon nano- tubes (SWNTs) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) have shown that, CNTs can have high modulus and strength levels in the range 200 - 1000 GPa and 200 - 900 MPa respectively [2,4]. Other studies shows that, CNTs have unique electrical properties, ca- pable of acting as metallic-like conductors or having characteristics of a semiconductor depending upon the distortion or “chirality” of graphite lattice [3,9,10]. In addition, CNTs have very large aspect ratios, as high as 100 - 1000 [2]. These special properties make CNTs as excellent candidate for high strength and electrically con- ductive polymer nanocomposite applications. Electronics and automotive are the two major areas in which CNTs used as filler material in polymer composites. Electronic applications, particularly in the semiconductor field, CNTs are used to dissipate unwanted static charge buildup. This dissipative effect is achieved by thoroughly dispersed CNTs in a given polymer matrix, where CNTs form an interconnecting conductive pathway for charge to flow [2,11]. In conductive polymer composites, con- ductive compounds need very low fibril loading less than 2 wt% to achieve electrostatic dissipation, compared to ~ 8 - 20 wt% for carbon black based compounds [6]. In the Copyright © 2012 SciRes. JEAS